soil physical properties

Narayan Gouda
Department of Chemistry, School of Engineering and Technology,
CUTM, Parlakhemundi, Odisha, India
 Physical properties of soil
• Colour,
• density,
• pore space,
• plasticity and cohesion,
• texture
 Colour

• Colour gives a ready clue to soil conditions and some important

properties.
• It is either due to mineral or organic matter and mostly to both. Red,
yellow or brown colors are usually related to the different degrees of
oxidation, hydration and diffusion of iron oxides in the soil.
• Dark colors of a soil are associated with one or a combination of
several factors, including hindered drainage conditions, content and
state of decomposition of organic matter, the presence of titaniferous
magnetite etc.
• Uniformity in nomenclature of colors is possible by comparing the
soils with charts containing standard colours. One such chart is the
Munsell Colour Chart.
 Density

• Soils having larger particles are usually heavier in weight per unit volume
than those having smaller particles.
• True density of a soil is based on the individual densities of soil
constituents and according to their proportionate contribution.
• The bulk density or apparent density is the weight per unit volume of dry
soil as a whole i.e. particle and pore space and hence it is lower than the
true density.
• The relationship between the true density (T) and the apparent density
(A) and the pore space (P) is as follows:
P % = (T-A) x 100/T
• In most mineral soils the true density varies within narrow limits of
about 2.5 to 2.7 and the apparent density between 1.4 and 1.8.
 Pore space

• The pore space of soil is the portion occupied

by air and water and it is determined largely by
structural conditions.
• Sands have low pore space of about 30%,
whereas clays may have as much as 50-60%.
• Although clays possess greater total porosity
than the sands the pore spaces in the latter
being individually larger are more conducive to
good drainage and aeration.
 Plasticity and cohesion

• Plasticity is the property that enables a moist soil to

change shape on the application of force and retain
this shape even when the force is withdrawn.
• On this basis, sandy soils may be considered to be
non-plastic and clayey soils to be plastic.
• Cohesion is the tendency of the particles to stick to
one another. Plastic soils are cohesive.
• Plasticity and cohesion reflect the soil consistency
and workability of the soils.
 Soil temperature and heat

• Soil temperature is one of the important factors that control the

microbiological activity and all the processes involved in the growth of
plants.
• Heat is necessary for seed germination, root growth and other biological
activities. The temperature needed for germination and root growth varies
with crops and varieties. Crops, e.g. wheat, barley, and peas grown in India
during winter germinate at relatively low temperatures as compared with
maize, and those at which groundnut or cotton germinate.
• Microbiological activities are retarded by low soil temperature. As a result,
the nitrification processes in the soil are slowed down and plant nutrition
and growth adversely affected.
• Soil temperature is to be considered so important that in the soil taxonomy
there is a provision to use it as a differentiating criterion at the family level
of categorisation.
 Texture

• Non-technical definition: How the soil feels

• Technical definition: An expression that characterizes the relative amounts of sand, silt
and clay in the soil.
Soil separates
• i. Sand: gritty, Grainy, Coarse
• ii. Silt: floury when dry, greasy when wet
• iii. Clay
Properties of clays
• Sticky (adhesion—sticks to other things) (target demonstration)
• Plastic (cohesion—sticks to itself) (ribbon demonstration)
• Shrink-swell (slinky demonstration)
• Large surface area, due to layers and to size (block demonstration)
• Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC)
• Clay has net negative charge, attracts cations (positive ions; ions are broken molecules.
Certain ions serve as plant nutrients)
Any Doubts