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Soil Formation

1) Soil is formed through the weathering of rocks by mechanical and chemical processes. Clay minerals that form provide plastic properties to soils. 2) There are three main clay minerals - kaolinite, illite, and montmorillonite - that influence soil structure. 3) Water is attracted to clay particles through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic attraction between the charged clay surface and water molecules. This bound water gives clayey soils their plastic qualities.

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45 views

Soil Formation

1) Soil is formed through the weathering of rocks by mechanical and chemical processes. Clay minerals that form provide plastic properties to soils. 2) There are three main clay minerals - kaolinite, illite, and montmorillonite - that influence soil structure. 3) Water is attracted to clay particles through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic attraction between the charged clay surface and water molecules. This bound water gives clayey soils their plastic qualities.

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Viena 'mHia Gratia Untu
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Soil Formation

Terbentuknya tanah
STEEVA RONDONUWU
Introduction
Soil product of rock weathering
The formation of various types of rocks, the origins of which are the solidification
of molten magma the mantle of the earth

Formation of soil by mechanical and chemical weathering of rock

Determination of the distribution of particle sizes in a given soil mass

Composition of the clay minerals, which provides the plastic properties of a soil
mass

The shape of various particles in a soil mass


Rock Cycle and the Origin of Soil
Igneous rocks are formed by the solidification of molten magma
ejected from deep within the earths mantle. (Bowens reaction
principle)
Weathering
Weathering is the process of breaking down rocks by mechanical and
chemical processes into smaller pieces.
In chemical weathering, the original rock minerals are transformed into
new minerals by chemical reaction.
Water and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere form carbonic acid, which
reacts with the existing rock minerals to form new minerals and soluble
salts.
Soluble salts present in the groundwater and organic acids formed from
decayed organic matter also cause chemical weathering.
An example of the chemical weathering of orthoclase to form clay
minerals, silica, and soluble potassium carbonate follows:

Most of the potassium ions released are carried away in solution as


potassium carbonate is taken up by plants.
The clay minerals, which are a
product of chemical weathering
of feldspars, ferromagnesians,
and micas, give the plastic
property to soils.

There are three important clay


minerals: (1) kaolinite, (2) illite,
and (3) montmorillonite.
Transportation of Weathering Products
The soils formed by the weathered products at their place of
origin are called residual soils.
The transported soils may be classified into several groups,
depending on their mode of transportation and deposition:
1. Glacial soilsformed by transportation and deposition of glaciers
2. Alluvial soilstransported by running water and deposited along
streams
3. Lacustrine soilsformed by deposition in quiet lakes
4. Marine soilsformed by deposition in the seas
5. Aeolian soilstransported and deposited by wind
6. Colluvial soilsformed by movement of soil from its original place
by gravity, such as during landslides
Sedimentary Rock
The deposits of gravel, sand, silt, and clay formed by weathering may
become compacted by overburden pressure and cemented by agents
like iron oxide, calcite, dolomite, and quartz.
Cementing agents are generally carried in solution by groundwater.
They fill the spaces between particles and form sedimentary rock.
Rocks formed in this way are called detrital sedimentary rocks.
Sedimentary rock also can be formed by chemical processes. Rocks of
this type are classified as chemical sedimentary rock. These rocks can
have clastic or nonclastic texture.
Sedimentary rock may
undergo weathering to
form sediments or may
be subjected to the
process of
metamorphism to
become metamorphic
rock.
Metamorphic Rock
Metamorphism is the process of changing the composition and
texture of rocks (without melting) by heat and pressure. During
metamorphism, new minerals are formed, and mineral grains are
sheared to give a foliated texture to metamorphic rock.
Gneiss is a metamorphic rock derived from high-grade regional
metamorphism of igneous rocks, such as granite, gabbro, and diorite.
Low-grade metamorphism of shales and mudstones results in slate.
The clay minerals in the shale become chlorite and mica by heat
Marble is formed from calcite and dolomite by recrystallization
2.3 Rock-Forming Minerals, Rock and Rock
Structures

The process of the formation of


igneous rocks from rock-forming
minerals, weathering and
formation of sedimentary rocks,
and metamorphism and
formation of metamorphic rocks.
2.4 Soil-Particle Size
Soils generally are called gravel, sand, silt, or clay, depending on the
predominant size of particles within the soil.
To describe soils by their particle size, several organizations have
developed particle-size classification
2.5 Clay Minerals
Clay minerals are complex aluminum silicates composed of two basic units: (1)
silica tetrahedron and (2) alumina octahedron.
Each tetrahedron unit consists of four oxygen atoms surrounding a silicon atom
(Figure a).

The combination of tetrahedral silica units gives a silica sheet (Figure b).
Three oxygen atoms at the base of each tetrahedron are shared by neighboring
tetrahedra.
The octahedral units consist of six hydroxyls surrounding an
aluminum atom (Figure c),
and the combination of the octahedral aluminum hydroxyl units gives
an octahedral sheet. (This also is called a gibbsite sheetFigure d.)
Sometimes magnesium replaces the aluminum atoms in the octahedral
units; in this case, the octahedral sheet is called a brucite sheet.
In a silica sheet, each silicon atom with a positive charge of four is
linked to four oxygen atoms with a total negative charge of eight.
But each oxygen atom at the base of the tetrahedron is linked to two
silicon atoms. This means that the top oxygen atom of each
tetrahedral unit has a negative charge of one to be counterbalanced.
When the silica sheet is stacked over the octahedral sheet, as shown
in Figure 2.15e, these oxygen atoms replace the hydroxyls to balance
their charges.
kaolinite
consists of repeating layers of elemental silica-gibbsite sheets in a 1:1
lattice, as shown in Figures 2.16 and 2.17a.
Each layer is about 7.2 thick. The layers are held together by
hydrogen bonding.
Kaolinite occurs as platelets, each with a lateral dimension of 1000 to
20,000 and a thickness of 100 to 1000 .
The surface area of the kaolinite particles per unit mass is about 15
m2/g. The surface area per unit mass is defined as specific surface.
Figure beside shows a
scanning electron
micrograph of a
kaolinite specimen.
Illite
Substitution of one element for
another with no change in the
crystalline form is known as
isomorphous substitution.
Illite particles generally have
lateral dimensions ranging from
1000 to 5000 and thicknesses
from 50 to 500 .
The specific surface of the
particles is
about 80 m2/g.
Montmorillonite
Montmorillonite has a structure
similar to that of illitethat is, one
gibbsite sheet sandwiched between
two silica sheets
In montmorillonite there is
isomorphous substitution of
magnesium and iron for aluminum in
the octahedral sheets.
Figure 2.21 is a
scanning electron
micrograph showing
the fabric of
montmorillonite.
Potassium ions are not present as in illite, and a large amount of
water is attracted into the space between the layers.
Particles of montmorillonite have lateral dimensions of 1000 to 5000
and thicknesses of 10 to 50 .
The specific surface is about 800 m2/g.
Besides kaolinite, illite, and montmorillonite, other common clay
minerals generally found are chlorite, halloysite, vermiculite, and
attapulgite.
The clay particles carry a net negative charge on their surfaces. This is
the result both of isomorphous substitution and of a break in
continuity of the structure at its edges.
Larger negative charges are derived from larger specific surfaces.
Some positively charged sites also occur at the edges of the particles.
A list of the reciprocal of the average surface
Water molecules are polar. Hydrogen atoms are not axisymmetric around an oxygen
atom; instead, they occur at a bonded angle of 105 (Figure 2.23). As a result, a water molecule
has a positive charge at one side and a negative charge at the other side. It is known as a dipole.
Dipolar water is attracted both by the negatively charged surface of the clay particles
and by the cations in the double layer. The cations, in turn, are attracted to the soil particles.
A third mechanism by which water is attracted to clay particles is hydrogen bonding, where
hydrogen atoms in the water molecules are shared with oxygen atoms on the surface of the clay.

Some partially hydrated cations in the pore water are also attracted to the surface of clay particles.
These cations attract dipolar water molecules.

All these possible mechanics of attraction of water to clay are shown in Figure 2.24. The force of
attraction between water and clay decreases with distance from the surface of the particles.

All the water held to clay particles by force of attraction is known as double-layer water. The
innermost layer of double-layer water, which is held very strongly by clay, is known as adsorbed
water.

This water is more viscous than free water

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