Lecture 6

Soil Formation
 Chapter 7
Soil Formation
 Ferrous Sulfate Sulfuric Acid

soluble soluble
Calcium Bicarbonate Magnesium Bicarbonate

K-feldspar
Solution and Deposition:

http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/usgsnps/cave/cave.html
Soil May be Classified as Residual or
Transported
Residual Soils
Soil May be Classified as Residual or
Transported
 Transported Soils - Gravity
• Creep – residual soils in rolling areas tend to
move slowly downhill
• Fall – rock debris at bases of steep rock slopes
and faces (irregular coarse particles)
• Flows – loose residual soil on slight slope
becomes saturated –flows like a viscous liquid -
ends up in denser configuration
• Slides – slope rotates and translates (many or
few pieces)
Soil May be Classified as Residual or
Transported
 Transported Soil - water
Alluvial - running water is the most active transportation agent – mixes soils from different sources,
Sorts and deposits them according to grain size.

Fine particles carried in suspension

Coarse particles rolled (traction)
Intermediate particles carried by saltation (move in leaps and bounds)

Total volume carried  Velocity

Size of largest particle carried  Velocity

If streams velocity decrease (increased frictional resistance to flow, decrease in stream

Discharge, etc.), transported particles are deposited, largest sizes dropping out first.

Terraces of gravel and sand parallel to channel

Alluvial Fans - sand and gravel deposited when river enters flat country and velocity drops

Point Bars – usually silt and silty sands which form on the inside of river bends during high water
Periods.
 Transported Soil
Lacustrine (lake) Deposits

Delta forms where stream enters lake. Finer suspended particles are carried out into deeper
water and settle out to form horizontal thin strata – often get annual stratification of silt and
clay (winter vs. summer)

Marine (Sea Deposits)

Offshore Similar to lake deposits, deposited in relatively still water

May get more flocculation because of salt water (Na and Ca)
May include calcium carbonate deposits (shells, etc)

Shore Highly complex because of mixing and transporting by currents and waves

Sand Spits and Bars (where current velocity decreases)

Gravel Beaches
Shells Littoral Drift (continuous movement along the shore)

Fine material deposit further out to sea

Deep Sea Mainly covered by brown clay, calcareous and siliceous (plant remains) ooze
With thickness from 300 to 600 meters
 Water Transported and
Deposited in Lake

Repetitive
Layers of
Clay & sand
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/geology/geologictopics/geohist-2.htm
Soil May be Classified as Residual or
Transported
 Transported Soil
Glaciers - plowed up great portions of North America and Europe - mechanical weathering and
Transportation. Ice sheets planed off hill tops, ground up rock and mixed the materials
Together as they moved south.

Direct Deposit by Ice - called Moraines – composed of glacial till (heterogeneous mixture of
Particles from boulders to clay)

Terminal Moraines – low hills or ridges bulldozed by ice – mark limit of ice travel

Ground Moraine - irregular layer of till left on areas once covered by glaciers.
 Transported Soil Glacio-Fluvial
Glacio –fluvial Deposits

Eskers Ridges of stratified gravel and sand 10 -50 ft high, very long (up to 100 miles),
Few feet wide. Believed to be the deposits of streams running through ice.

Kames Stratified drift low hills, random shape formed from material that collected in
Openings in the glacier

Outwash Planes Material deposited by streams leaving the glacier as it melted

Glacier rivers flowed into lakes – great deltas of sand, thick beds of silt and clay (varved strata
 1/8” thick, laminated strata < 1/8” thick)
Soil May be Classified as Residual or
Transported
Wind Deposits
Transported Soil
Wind is a highly selective agent of particle transportation. Particles coarser than
0.05 mm (sand) are usually rolled along by wind.

Dunes Sand deposits formed by the wind - desert regions, lake and sea shores
Continually migrate in direction of the wind

Loess Wind-blown silt accumulated in semi-arid grass lands bordering arid regions
Slowly builds up – grass roots give high porosity, very loose deposits
Often cemented by calcium carbonate and iron oxide

Volcanic Ash Small fragments of igneous rock blown out of a volcano

It soaks up water readily and decomposes rapidly
If partially decomposed then dried – soft rock (Tuff)
If completely decomposed – highly plastic clays with high void ratio
 Effects of Transportation on Sediments
Major effects of transportation processes on the physical properties of sediments are sorting
And abrasion:

Sorting
1. Local sorting – layers or lenses with different grain size distributions

2. Longitudinal or Progressive sorting – progressive variation in particle

Size in direction of flow

Abrasion
Particle size and shape may be modified mechanically by grinding, impact,
Crushing and blasting