THE PRINCIPLES OF SOIL SCIENCE

I. The soil habitat

1. Introduction to the soil
2. The mineral component of the soil
3. Soil organisms and organic matter
4. Peds and pores

II. Processes in the soil environment

1. Soil formation
2. Hydrology, soil water and
temperature
3. Reactions at surfaces
4. Soil aeration
5. Processes in profile development
6. Nutrient cycling

III. Soil classification and soil taxonomy

1. The US classification system
Soil profile in hills of Manisa Province, Turkey, • Main orders
showing a distinct horizon of accumulated red- • Suborders
purple metallic (manganese and/or iron?) oxides.
2. The Canadian classification system
I. THE SOIL HABITAT
 INTRODUCTION TO THE SOIL
• Definition
• Soil boundaries
and horizons
• Physical properties
of soils
• Components of the
soil
WHAT IS SOIL?
• Soil is a natural body comprised of
solids (minerals and organic matter),
liquid and gases that occurs on the land
surface, occupies space, and is
characterized by one or both of the
following:

• horizons, or layers, that are

distinguishable from the initial
material as a result of additions,
losses, transfers, and
transformations of energy and
matter

• the ability to support rooted plants

in a natural environment.
 SOIL BOUNDARIES

• The upper limit of soil is the boundary between soil and air,
shallow water, live plants, or plant materials that have not
begun to decompose.

• Areas are not considered to have soil if the surface is

permanently covered by water too deep (typically more than
2.5 meters) for the growth of rooted plants.

• The lower boundary that separates soil from the nonsoil

underneath is most difficult to define.
SOIL HORIZONS
• Soil consists of horizons near the
earth's surface that, in contrast
to the underlying parent
material, have been altered by
the interactions of climate, relief,
and living organisms over time.

• Commonly, soil grades at its

lower boundary to hard rock or
to earthy materials virtually
devoid of animals, roots, or other
marks of biological activity.

• For purposes of classification, the

lower boundary of soil is
arbitrarily set at 200 cm.
MASTER HORIZONS AND LAYERS
• O horizons-Layers dominated by organic material.

• A horizons-Mineral horizons that formed at the

surface or below an O horizon that exhibit
obliteration of all or much of the original rock
structure and (i) are characterized by an
accumulation of humified organic matter
intimately mixed with the mineral fraction and not
dominated by properties characteristic of E or B
horizons; or (ii) have properties resulting from
cultivation, pasturing, or similar kinds of
disturbance.

• E horizons-Mineral horizons in which the main

feature is loss of silicate clay, iron, aluminum, or
some combination of these, leaving a
concentration of sand and silt particles of quartz or
other resistant materials.
MASTER HORIZONS AND LAYERS
• B horizons - Horizons that formed below an
A, E, or O horizon and are dominated by
obliteration of all or much of the original
rock structure and show one or more of
the following:
– illuvial concentration of silicate clay, iron,
aluminum, humus, carbonates, gypsum, or
silica, alone or in combination;
– evidence of removal of carbonates;
– residual concentration of sesquioxides;
– coatings of sesquioxides that make the
horizon conspicuously lower in value,
higher in chroma, or redder in hue than
overlying and underlying horizons without
apparent illuviation of iron;
– alteration that forms silicate clay or
liberates oxides or both and that forms
granular, blocky, or prismatic structure if
volume changes accompany changes in
moisture content; or
– brittleness.
MASTER HORIZONS AND LAYERS
• C horizons or layers - Horizons or
layers, excluding hard bedrock, that
are little affected by pedogenic
processes and lack properties of O,
A, E, or B horizons.
– The material of C horizons may
be either like or unlike that
from which the solum
presumably formed.
– The C horizon may have been
modified even if there is no
evidence of pedogenesis.

• R layers - Hard bedrock including

granite, basalt, quartzite and
indurated limestone or sandstone
that is sufficiently coherent to make
hand digging impractical.
 TRANSITIONAL HORIZONS
Two kinds of transitional horizons are recognized:

1. The horizon is dominated by properties of one master horizon but has subordinate
properties of another.

– Two capital latter symbols are used, such as AB, EB, BE, or BC.

– The master horizon symbol that is given first designates the kind of master horizon
whose properties dominate the transitional horizon.

2. Distinct parts of the horizon have recognizable properties of the two kinds of master
horizons indicated by the capital letters.

– The two capital letters are separated by a virgule (/), as E/B, B/E, or B/C. The first
symbol is that of the horizon that makes up the greater volume.
 TRANSITIONAL HORIZONS
• AB - A horizon with characteristics of both an overlying A horizon and an underlying B horizon, but which
is more like the A than the B.

• EB - A horizon with characteristics of both an overlying E horizon and an underlying B horizon, but which is
more like the E than the B.

• BE - A horizon with characteristics of both an overlying E horizon and an underlying B horizon, but which is
more like the B than the E.

• BC - A horizon with characteristics of both an overlying B horizon and an underlying C horizon, but which is
more like the B than the C.

• CB - A horizon with characteristics of both an overlying B horizon and an underlying C horizon, but which is
more like the C than the B.

• E/B - A horizon comprised of individual parts of E and B horizon components in which the E component is
dominant and surrounds the B materials.

• B/E - A horizon comprised of individual parts of E and B horizon in which the E component surrounds the B
component but the latter is dominant.

• B/C - A horizon comprised of individual parts of B and C horizon in which the B horizon component is
dominant and surrounds the C component.
Soil and Nonsoil

Soil is defined as the naturally occurring,

unconsolidated mineral or organic material at
least 10 cm thick that occurs at the earth's
surface and is capable of supporting plant
growth.

In this definition "naturally occurring" includes

disturbance of the surface by activities of man
such as cultivation and logging but not
displaced materials such as gravel dumps and
mine spoils.

Unconsolidated material includes material

compacted or cemented by soil-forming
processes.
Soil and Nonsoil
Soil extends from the earth's surface through
the genetic horizons, if present, into the
underlying material to the depth of the control
section.

Soil may have water covering its surface to a

depth of 60 cm or less either at low tide in
coastal areas or during the driest part of the
year in areas inland.

A soil covered by a veneer of new material at

least 50 cm thick is considered to be a buried
soil.

Soil development involves climatic factors and

organisms, as conditioned by relief and hence
water regime, acting through time on
geological materials and thus modifying the
properties of the parent material.
Soil and Nonsoil
Nonsoil is the aggregate of
surficial materials that do not
meet the preceding definition of
soil.

It includes soil materials

displaced by unnatural
processes such as dumps of
earth fill, unconsolidated mineral
or organic material thinner than
10 cm overlying bedrock,
exposed bedrock, and
unconsolidated material covered
by more than 60 cm of water
throughout the year.

Nonsoil also includes organic

material thinner than 40 cm
overlying water.
 Pedon
The pedon as defined by
pedologists of the United States
(Soil Survey Staff 1975) serves as
the basic unit of soil in the
Canadian classification system.

It is the smallest, three-

dimensional unit at the surface of
the earth that is considered as a
soil.

Its lateral dimensions are 1 m if

ordered variation in genetic
horizons can be sampled within
that distance or if these horizons
are few and faintly expressed.

Pedon of Orthic Turbic Cryosol in area of nonsorted circles

 Pedon
If horizons are cyclical or
intermittent and are repeated in a
lateral distance of 2-7 m, the
lateral dimensions of the pedon
are half the cycle (1-3.5 m).

The vertical dimension of the

pedon is to the depth of the
control section.

A contiguous group of similar

Pedon of Gleyed Vertic Black Chernozem pedons is called a polypedon,
with tonguing Ah horizon which is indicated in Soil
Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff
1975) as a unit of classification.
 Pedon

Pedon of Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol, turbic phase, in hummocky terrain due to

blowdown of trees
Epipedon

What is an epipedon?

The horizon at the surface of the solum is

called an epipedon (the top of the pedon).
 Mollic and an umbric epipedon.

Mollic and umbric

epipedons are deep
dark colored
horizons with at least
1% and up to 20 or
30% organic matter.

However, while a
mollic epipedon is
basic, the umbric
epipedon is acid.

The ochric epipedon

fails to meet the
definitions for any of
the other epipedons.
Thus it is too light,
too thin or too low in
organic matter. If a
soil's epipedon does
not meet any of the
criteria for the other
seven epipedons it is
Mollic epipedon Umbric epipedon ochric.
 Spodic, oxic and albic horizons

An oxic horizon (Bo) is a zone of accumulation of oxide clays. It is a residue left after
most of the weatherable minerals and silicate clays have weathered away.

A spodic horizon is a zone rich in sand particles which are coated with aluminum or iron
oxides and/or organic matter.

What is an albic horizon?

An albic horizon (E) is a zone

from which clay or free iron oxides
have been eluviated but very little
organic matter has accumulated.
Argillic, natric and cambic horizons

An argillic horizon (Bt) is a zone of

accumulation of silicate clays. The
horizon contains at least 20% more clay
than the horizon above it.

A natric horizon is an argillic horizon

with more than 15% sodium on the
cation exchange.

A cambic horizon (Bw) is a B horizon

that is too weakly developed to meet the
criterion of any other diagnostic horizon.

The cambic horizon shows some

evidence of accumulation: clay skins a
color change or structural formation.
Control Section

The control section is the vertical section of

soil upon which classification is based.

It is necessary to provide a uniform basis for

soil classification.

In general, pedons should be sampled at

least to the depth of the control section.

The properties of the material beneath the

control section are important for many
interpretive purposes.

Therefore, the underlying material should be

examined and its properties recorded
whenever possible.
 Mineral soils
For mineral soils in general, the control section extends from the
mineral surface either to 25 cm below the upper boundary of the C,
IIC, or permafrost table, or to a depth of 2 m, whichever is less.
Exceptions are as follows:

If the upper boundary of the C or IIC is less than 75 cm from the

mineral surface, the control section extends to a depth of 1 m.

If bedrock occurs at a depth of 10 cm or more but less than 1 m, the

control section extends from the surface to the lithic contact.

If permafrost occurs at a depth of less than 1 m and the soil does not
show evidence of cryoturbation (Static Cryosol), the control section
extends to a depth of 1 m.
 Organic soils
A. Organic Order

The control section for Fibrisols, Mesisols, and Humisols extends

from the surface either to a depth of 1.6 m or to a lithic contact.

It is divided into tiers, which are used in classification.

The tiers are layers based upon arbitrary depth criteria.

 Surface tier

The surface tier is 40 cm thick exclusive of loose litter, crowns of

sedges and reeds, or living mosses.

Mineral soil on the surface of the profile is part of the surface tier,
which is used to name the soil family.

Shallow lithic organic soils may have only a surface tier.

 Middle tier

The middle tier is 80 cm thick.

It establishes the great group classification if no terric, lithic, or

hydric substratum is present.

Otherwise the dominant kind of organic material in this and the

surface tier establishes the great group classification.

The nature of the subdominant organic material in the middle or

bottom tier assists in establishing the subgroup classification.
 Bottom tier
The bottom tier is 40 cm thick.

The material in this tier establishes in whole or in part the subgroup

classification.

The control section for Folisols is the same as that used for mineral
soils.

These soils must have more than 40 cm of folic materials if they

overlie mineral soils or peat materials, or at least 10 cm if they
overlie a lithic contact or fragmental materials.

B. Organic Cryosol Great Group

The control section for Organic Cryosols extends to a depth of 1 m

or to a lithic contact. No tiers are defined.
 Soil structure and “average” composition
A soil profile
O - Horizon
 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SOILS

• The physical properties of a soil are those characteristics which can be

seen with the eye or felt between the thumb and fingers.

• They are the result of soil parent materials being acted upon by climatic
factors (such as rainfall and temperature), and affected by topography
(slope and direction, or aspect) and life forms (kind and amount, such as
forest, grass, or soil animals) over a period of time.

• A change in any one of these influences usually results in a difference in

the type of soil formed.

• Important physical properties of a soil are colour, texture, structure,

drainage, depth, and surface features (stoniness, slope, and erosion).
 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SOILS

• The physical properties and chemical composition largely

determine the suitability of a soil for its planned use and the
management requirements to keep it most productive.

• To a limited extent, the fertility of a soil determines its

possible uses, and to a larger extent, its yields. However,
fertility level alone is not indicative of its productive
capacity, since soil physical properties usually control the
suitability of the soil as growth medium.

• Fertility is more easily changed than soil physical properties.

 Soil colours
When soil is examined, colour is one of the first things noticed.

It indicates extremely important soil conditions.

In general, colour is determined by:

(1) organic matter content

(2) drainage conditions

(3) degree of oxidation (extent of weathering).

 Soil colours
Surface soil colours vary from almost white, through shades of brown and
gray, to black. Light colours indicate a low organic matter content and dark
colours can indicate a high content.

Light or pale colours in the surface soil are frequently associated with
relatively coarse texture, highly leached conditions, and high annual
temperatures.

Dark colours may result from high water table conditions (poor drainage),
low annual temperatures, or other conditions that induce high organic
matter content and, at the same time, slow the oxidation of organic
materials.

However, soil coloration may be due to the colours imparted by the parent
material. Shades of red or yellow, particularly where associated with
relatively fine textures, usually indicate that subsoil material has been
incorporated in the surface layer.
 Colour Indications

Red – Brown: Good Drainage

Yellow: Some Drainage

Grey: Poor Drainage

Subsoil colours, in general, are indications of air, water, and soil

relationships and the degree of oxidation of certain minerals in the soil.

Red and brown subsoil colours indicate relatively free movement of air and
water allowed by the soil.

If these or other bright colours persist throughout the subsoil, aeration is

favorable.

Some subsoils that are mottled (have mixed colours), especially in shades
of red and brown, are also well-aerated.
 HOW TO SAMPLE SOILS

In this example there is a thick forest

floor (O horizon), a thin topsoil horizon Collecting soil for bulk
(A horizon) and a moderately thick density measurements.
mineral soil (E horizon).
 Världens jordmånskategorier

• År 1975, Soil Taxonomy publicerades av

United States Department of Agriculture's
Soil Survey Staff.

• Systemet har genomgått ett antal

förändringar sen dess och den senaste
versionen publicerades 1999.
•
Det finns totalt 12 kategorier sk order.
 The 12 soil orders
1. Alfisols: moderately leached soils with a subsurface zone of clay
accumulation and >35% base saturation
2. Andisols: soils formed in volcanic ash
3. Aridisols: CaCO3-containing soils of arid environments with subsurface
horizon development
4. Entisols: soils with little or no morphological development
5. Gelisols: soils with permafrost within 2 m of the surface
6. Histosols: organic soils
7. Inceptisols: soils with weakly developed subsurface horizons
8. Mollisols: grassland soils with high base status
9. Oxisols: intensely weathered soils of tropical and subtropical environments
10. Spodosols: acid forest soils with a subsurface accumulation of metal-
humus complexes
11. Ultisols: strongly leached soils with a subsurface zone of clay
accumulation and <35% base saturation
12. Vertisols: clayey soils with high shrink/swell capacity
 Alfisols

The central concept of Alfisols is that of

soils that have an argillic, a kandic, or a
natric horizon and a base saturation of
35% or greater.

They typically have an ochric epipedon,

but may have an umbric epipedon. They
may also have a petrocalcic horizon, a
fragipan or a duripan.
 Petrocalcic horizons, hardpan, duripan, fragipan

• A petrocalcic horizon is a diagnostic horizon in USDA soil taxonomy. They are

formed when secondary Calcium Carbonate or other carbonates accummulate in
the subsoil to the extent that the soil becomes cemented into a hardpan.

• In soil science, agriculture and gardening, hardpan is a general term for a dense
layer of soil, residing usually below the uppermost topsoil layer.

• A duripan is a diagnostic soil horizon that is cemented by illuvial silica into a

subsurface hardpan.

• A fragipan is a diagnostic horizon in USDA soil taxonomy. They are altered

subsurface soil layers that restrict water flow and root penetration. Fragipans are
similar to a duripan in how they affect land-use limitations. In soil descriptions,
they are commonly denoted by a Bx or Btx symbol.
 Andisols

Soils dominated by short-range-order

minerals.

They include weakly weathered soils

with much volcanic glass as well as
more strongly weathered soils.

Hence the content of volcanic glass is

one of the characteristics used in
defining andic soil properties.

Materials with andic soil properties

comprise 60 percent or more of the
thickness between the mineral soil
surface or the top of an organic layer
with andic soil properties and a depth
of 60 cm or a root limiting layer if
shallower.
 Aridisols

(1) An aridic moisture regime and an ochric or

anthropic epipedon and one or more of the
following with an upper boundry within 100
cm of the soil surface: a calcic, cambic,
gypsic, natric, petrocalcic, petrogypsic, or a
salic horizon or a duripan or an argillic
horizon, or

(2) A salic horizon and saturation with water

within 100 cm of the soil surface for one
month or more in normal years.

An aridic moisture regime is one that in normal

years has no water available for plants for
more than half the cumulative time that the
soil temperature at 50 cm below the surface
is >5° C. and has no period as long as 90
consecutive days when there is water
available for plants while the soil temperature
at 50 cm is continuously >8° C.
 Entisols

The central concept of Entisols is

that of soils that have little or no
evidence of development of
pedogenic horizons.

Many Entisols have an ochric

epipedon and a few have an
anthropic epipedon. Many are
sandy or very shallow.
 Gelisols

The central concept of Gelisols is

that of soils that have permafrost
within 100 cm of the soil surface
and/or have gelic materials within
100 cm of the soil surface and have
permafrost within 200 cm.

Gelic materials are mineral or

organic soil materials that have
evidence of cryoturbation (frost
churning) and/or ice segeration in
the active layer (seasonal thaw
layer) and/or the upper part of the
permafrost.
 Gelisols
Gelisols are known to occur
only in Alaska, Siberia and
Northern Europe.

Most of the soils have a

layer of gelic materials that
is underlain by permafrost.

Permafrost influences
pedogenesis through its
effect on the downward
movement of the soil
solution and on the soil
forming processes.
 Histosols

The central concept of Histosols

is that of soils that are dominantly
organic.

They are mostly soils that are

commonly called bogs, moors, or
peats and mucks.

A soil is classified as Histosols if

it does not have permafrost and is
dominated by organic soil
materials.
 Inceptisols

The central concept of Inceptisols is

that of soils of humid and subhumid
regions that have altered horizons that
have lost bases or iron and aluminum
but retain some weatherable minerals.

They do not have an illuvial horizon

enriched with either silicate clay or with
an amorphous mixture of aluminum and
organic carbon.

The Inceptisols may have many kinds of

diagnostic horizons, but argillic, natric
kandic, spodic and oxic horizons are
excluded.
 Mollisols

The central concept of

Mollisols is that of soils that
have a dark colored surface
horizon and are base rich.

Nearly all have a mollic

epipedon.

Many also have an argillic or

natric horizon or a calcic
horizon.

A few have an albic horizon.

Some also have a duripan or

a petrocalic horizon.
 Oxisols
The central concept of Oxisols is that
of soils of the tropical and subtropical
regions.

They have gentle slopes on surfaces

of great age.

They are mixtures of quartz, kaolin,

free oxides, and organic matter.

For the most part they are nearly

featureless soils without clearly
marked horizons.

Differences in properties with depth

are so gradual that horizon boundaries
are generally arbitrary.
 Spodosols
The central concept of Spodosols is that
of soils in which amorphous mixtures of
organic matter and aluminum, with or
without iron, have accumulated.

In undisturbed soils there is normally an

overlying eluvial horizon, generally gray
to light gray in color, that has the color of
more or less uncoated quartz.

Most Spodosols have little silicate clay.

The particle-size class is mostly sandy,

sandy-skeletal, coarse-loamy, loamy,
loamy- skeletal, or coarse-silty.
 Utisols

The central concept of Ultisols is

that of soils that have a horizon
that contains an appreciable
amount of translocated silicate
clay (an argillic or kandic horizon)
and few bases (base saturation
less than 35 percent).

Base saturation in most Ultisols

decreases with depth.
 Vertisols

The central concept of Vertisols is that

of soils that have a high content of
expending clay and that have at some
time of the year deep wide cracks.

They shrink when drying and swell

when they become wetter.
CYCLES OF HUMIC SUBSTANCES ( McKnight & Aiken 1998)
 THE END

…BUT ONLY FOR NOW