SOIL ORIGIN AND NATURE,

FORMATION OF SOILS
• Soil develops from parent material by the processes of soil formation

• The process of formation soil from the hard rock (eg. granite) are divided into two
stages

– Rock weathering
– Soil formation

• The mineral matter inherited form rocks are referred to as soil parent material
• The principle parent materials of organic soils are formed due to decomposing of
plant materials

• The most important properties of parent’s materials are texture and mineral
composition
• Rocks - formed by the cooling of a molton mass called magma

• The most common igneous rocks are basalt and granite

• Basalt rock - most common lava rock which is the principle hard rock underlying
the ocean basins

• Basalt rock due to weathering produces a large percentage of clay and less
percentage of stone
• Granite rock - weathers to coarse grained rocks to produce much sandier soil

• Granite usually produces a deeper soil than basalt

• Igneous rocks – source - 10% of the earth soil area

• The remaining 90% of the land area has a mantle of sedimentary or metamorphic
rocks
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

• Are formed by the cementation of iron of materials deposited by wind, water, ice
or gravity

• Cementation is by iron, aluminum, silicon, CaCO3 etc)

• Sedimentary rocks are shale, limestone, quartz stones etc

METAMORPHIC ROCKS

• Are formed under heat and pressure

• Sandstone can change to quartzite, shale to slate and limestone to marble

SOIL FORMATION

• Weathering - responsible for the formation of the regolith and in turn the soil

• Weathering - combination of destruction and synthesis

• Simultaneously rock fragments and the minerals therein are attached by

weathering forces

• These changes are accompanied by a continued decrease in particle size and by

release of soluble constituents.
PROCESS OF WEATHERING

• Mechanical disintegration

• Chemical decomposition

I. Mechanical

a. Temperature : differential expansions of minerals, frost betion and exfoliation.

b. Erosion and deposition – by water ice wind

c. Plant and animal influences

II. Chemical

a. Hydrolysis

b. Hydration

c. Carbonation and related acidic processes

d. Oxidation

e. Solution
MECHANICAL FORCES OF WEATHERING

Temperature

• Sudden or wide variations of temperature influence the disintegration of rocks

• Warming and cooling process are effective in disintegration of parent materials

• Freezing of water
It widens the cracks and dislodges rocks to fragments

• Water
Water has a tremendous cutting power in the valleys of rivers

• Ice
Ice is an erosive and transporting agency which disintegrates rocks

• Wind
Wind always had been important transporting agent for dust storms

• Plants
Mosses and lichens produces organic materials - help in disintegration and the growth
of roots in the rocks crevices and thus disintegration of rock
CHEMICAL PROCESS OF WEATHERING – DECOMPOSITION

• Hydrolysis
It is a decomposition reaction especially in case of feldspars & mica

• Hydration
It is the processes of attachment of H+ and OH- ions to the compounds

2 Fe2O3+3H2O 2 Fe2O3 H2O

Hematite (red) Limonite (Yellow)

• Carbonation

Hydrogen ion, carbonic acid, HNO3, H2SO4

CaCO3 + H2CO3 Ca(HCO3)2

Calcite Carbonic Acid Soluble Bicarbonate

• Oxidation

Fe++ Fe+++

4FeO+O2 2Fe2O3
Ferrous Oxide Hematite
Solution

Dissolved CO2 and H+ ions

Fig. : How various kinds of parent’s material are formed transported & deposited
SOIL PARENT MATERIALS OR WEATHERED SOILS

– Residual parent material

– Alluvial debris

– Alluvial stream deposits

– Marine sediments

– Lacustrine

– Glacial

– Eolian (Sand size) silt size- Transported by wind

FACTORS INFLUENCING SOIL FORMATION

• Climatic condition - particularly temperature and precipitation

• Living organism - especially native vegetation

• Nature of parent material – Texture & structure of soil

• Chemical & mineralogical composition of soil

• Topography of the area

• Time of soil formation

SOIL PROFILE
• Horizontal distribution of soil layers are called soil horizons

• The vertical sequence of soil horizons are termed as soil profile

• Soil forming processes are grouped under four heads-O,A, Band C

Consolidated bed rock.

• O Group: The organic horizons which lie above the mineral soil

• A group: The mineral horizons which are at or near the surface characterized by
maximum leaching

• B Group: The layer in which deposition from above or even below

• It is the region of maximum accumulation of materials such as oxides of iron and

aluminum and silicate clays

• These materials may have washed downward from the surface layers or they have
formed in the B horizon

• In the arid region calcium carbonate and calcium sulphate may be accumulated
• A & B horizon together is called the solum

• C- Horizon: It is the unconsolidated material underlying the solution. Least

weathered accumulation of Ca , Mg carbonate, cementation, some times high bulk
density fragipans

• R-Horizon: Consolidated bed rock. It may or may not be like the parent rock from
which the solution is formed