Geology and Soils

• Objectives
– To gain a general understanding of:
• 5 state factors and how they influence soil
development
• General types of soils & their defining
characteristics
• Soil physical, chemical, and biological
properties

Additional Readings:
1) Coleman, D.C. et al. 2004. Fundamentals of Soil Ecology.
2) Hillel, D. 2004. Introduction to Environmental Soil Physics.
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 Geology and Soils
• Why should we talk about geology and soils in a
class on ecosystem ecology?
– Within a given climatic regime, soil properties are the major control
over ecosystem distribution and processes
– Source of 2 of the 3 major plant resources (H2O & nutrients)
– Provide a physical support system (i.e., rooting medium) for plants,
and habitat for soil micro-, meso- and macroorganisms
– Soil physical/chemical/biological properties influence ecosystems
which, in turn, influence soil physical/chemical/biological properties
– Intersection of bio, geo, and chemistry (i.e., biogeochemistry) occurs
largely in soil
• All in a very thin film over Earth’s surface

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 Geology and Soils
• What is soil composed of?
– Roughly 15-35% H2O and 15-35% air (30-70% pore
space)
– ~45-50% minerals
– 1-5% OM

– Where does the mineral component of soils come from?3

 Geology and Soils
• Weathering (parent rocks/minerals → more stable
forms)
– Physical: disintegration of parent material into smaller
and smaller particles (no chemical change)
• Important for soil structure
• Increases the surface area : volume ratio

– Chemical: minerals in parent material and soils react

with acidic and oxidizing agents to change chemical form
• Primary minerals (feldspars, micas) → secondary minerals
(silicate clays) → other secondary minerals
• Important source of nutrients (P, K, Ca, Mg; but not N)

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 State Factors

Soil
Development

Soil formation = ¦(development, deposition, erosion)

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 Parent material – The Rock Cycle
• Rock Cycle: Formation &
weathering of parent material
• Important source of nutrients
• Lithosphere cycles every
100-200 million years

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Parent material – Plate tectonics

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 Climate
• Physical weathering (Direct)
– Leaching and erosion
– Expansion/contraction (wet/dry & freeze/thaw)
– Abrasion (wind, ice, water)
• Chemical weathering rates (Indirect)
– Process rates
• Biological activity (Indirect)
– Productivity, decomposition, nutrient cycling

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Climate

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Climate

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 Topography
• Topography influences soil formation through 2
main processes
1. Climate effects
• Solar radiation → differences in temperature and moisture →
differences in weathering rates & chemical processes

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 Topography
• Topography influences soil formation through 2
main processes
2. Differential transport of fine soil particles via erosion
and deposition

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 Potential biota
• Physical weathering (plant roots)
• Chemical weathering (carbonic acid)
– H2O + CO2 ↔ H+ + HCO3- ↔ H2CO3
• Primary production → organic matter quantity
and quality
– OM is an important component of soils
• Distributed through soil profile by biological (roots, micro-
and macrofauna) and physical (leaching) forces
– OM → organic acid → chemical weathering
• Geologic pumps
– Redistribute bio-essential elements to surface soils
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 Time
• Weathering preferentially removes Si, Ca, Na, Mg, and
enriches Fe and Al
– Susceptibility to weathering: Cl > SO4 > Na > Ca > Mg > K > Si > Fe > Al
• Biota enrich soils in C, O, H, N

Schlesinger (1997)

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 Time
• Most soil processes occur slowly, and time
interacts with other state factors

Walker and Syers (1976)

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 Human Activities
• Are humans a 6th state variable?
• Direct impacts
– Nutrient and sediment inputs, irrigation, land use
change (modification of biota), acceleration of erosion
and deposition, reductions in SOM (e.g., ag fields), etc.

• Indirect
– Changes in atmospheric composition (climate), and
alteration of microenvironment

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 Soil profile development

•Soil properties are the result

of a dynamic balance in
continual flux determined by:
1.Additions to and losses from
soil
2.Transformations and transfers
within soil

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 Additions to soils
• Inputs from outside ecosystem
– Atmospheric inputs: Precipitation, dust
– Horizontal inputs: Floods, deposition
• Inputs from within ecosystem
– Weathering of parent material
– Organic matter
• Primary production
• Litterfall and root turnover

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 Soil losses
1. Leaching (driven by movement of H20)
– Monovalent cations (Na+, K+) and anions (Cl-,
NO3-) lost most easily
2. Gaseous loss (driven by microbial activity
and diffusion gradients)
– Loss of organic matter as CO2 and CH4, N trace
gases, etc.
3. Erosion and mass wasting

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 Transformations - Physical
• Predominate in severe environments
• Cracks (e.g., roots) or abrasion (e.g.,
glaciers)
• No chemical change
• Produces coarse textured soils
• Importance lies in creation of new surfaces
for chemical weathering
– Increases surface area : volume ratio

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 Transformations - Chemical
• Involves chemical change
– Conversion from primary to secondary minerals
• Promoted by water and heat (i.e. climate)
• Varies with parent material
• Stimulated by acidity
– What are main acids in soils?

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 Soil transfers
• Vertical movement largely determines soil profiles
– Downward leaching driven by water
– Upward capillary rise (e.g., salinization)
– Distribution of plant roots; plants as geochemical pumps
– Soil mixing by animals

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 Typical Soil Profile

•Driven by additions,
transformations, transfers,
accumulations, and losses

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 Typical Soil Profile
•Presence/absence and degree of formation of profiles is
used to classify soils into broad soil orders

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 Soil Orders
•Soil order is determined largely by degree of weathering

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 U.S. Soil Orders

•~40% of ice-free surface

has minimal development
•12% associate with very dry
areas
•<50% of soils responsible
for vast majority of biological
activity
•What are the important soil
orders in Hawaii, and why?

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HI Soil Orders

•39% in andisols (volcanic

ejecta)
•26% in histosols (highly
organic)
•Peatlands and bogs
•Young substrate
•10% in oxisols (highly
weathered)

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Deenik & McClellan (2007)
 HI Soil Orders
Andisols Histosols Oxisols

Volcanic ejecta >50% OM Highly weathered

13-28% OM Low BD, High WHC Very little OM
Low BD, High WHC Prod > Decomp Well drained
Amorphous clay Atypical in Hawaii Little horizon dev.
Developed horizons Little horizon dev. Very infertile, but
good physical prop.
Very Fertile (but Fertile 28
high P adsorbtion) Common in tropics
Young Island Old Island

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 Soil physical properties
• Physical properties → availability and
cycling of H2O and nutrients
– Texture
– Structure
– Bulk density
– Water-holding capacity

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 Soil physical properties
• Texture
– %sand, silt, and clay
• Sand and silt mainly
unweathered primary
minerals
• Clay mainly secondary
minerals
– Surface area / unit
volume
• Small particles → high
SA/V → high WHC Clay: <0.002mm
Silt : 0.002 – 0.05mm
Sand: 0.05 – 2.0mm 31
 Soil physical properties
• Texture
– What determines
texture?
• 5 state factors
– Parent material is typically
most important
– Time and climate also very
important
– Ultimately a balance
between soil development
(parent material and
climate), and deposition vs.
erosion (topography)

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 Soil physical properties
• Soil structure
– Arrangement of soil particles
– Single-grained, massive, etc.
– “glued” by OM, roots, and
microorganisms into soil
aggregates
• Cracks and channels
– Physical weathering
– Biological activity

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 Soil physical properties
• Bulk density
– Ratio of mass to total soil volume (solids + pores)
– Mineral soils (1-2 g cm-3), organic soils 0.05-0.4 g
cm-3
– Fine texture < coarse textured
– Influences H2O filtration, nutrient content (% conc.
X B.D.)
– Influenced by: mineralogy, chemical composition,
compaction, soil animals

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 Soil physical properties
• Water holding capacity (WHC)
WHC = Field Capacity (FC) - Permanent Wilting Point
(PWP)
• FC = amount of water left after drainage from gravity
• PWP = point at which roots can no longer remove water from
particle surfaces (~-1.5 MPa for crops)
– WHC enhanced by clay and OM (large surf. area : vol.)
• Soil Water Potential ( Ψ; bars or MPa)
– Index of plant available water
– Ψsoil = Ψgrav + Ψosmotic + Ψmatrix

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 Soil chemical properties
• Chemical properties → availability and
cycling of nutrients
– Redox potential
– pH
– OM content
– Ion exchange Capacity

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 Soil chemical properties
• Redox potential
– Electrical potential of a system due to tendency of
substances in the system to gain or lose electrons
• pH
– Negative log of H+ ion activity in solution (0-14)
– pH declines (more acidic) as H+ increases
– Strongly affects nutrient availability via CEC, and
solubility of phosphate and micronutrients
• Organic content
– Important for WHC, structure, BD, nutrient
retention, soil formation and development, etc.

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 Soil chemical properties
• Cation exchange capacity (CEC)
– Capacity of a soil to hold exchangeable cations (+ ions)
– Driven by negatively charged sites on minerals and OM
– Exchange occurs when a loosely held cation exchanges
with one in solution
– Al3+ > H+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+ ≈ NH4+ > Na+
• Can be altered by large quantities of a weaker cation
– Base saturation is % of total exchangeable cation pool
accounted for by base cations (any cations but Al3+ or H+)
– Buffering capacity to keep soils from becoming acidic

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 Soil chemical properties
• Anion exchange capacity (AEC)
– Capacity of a soil to hold exchangeable anions (- ions)
– Common in highly weathered tropical soils
• Fe and Al oxides have slight positive charges in acidic soils
– PO43- > SO43- > Cl- > NO3-
• Can be altered by large quantities of a weaker anions
• Results in leaching of nitrate (NO3-)

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 Soil biological properties
• Biological properties → availability and cycling of
nutrients
– Soil organisms
• Roots
• Microflora (bacteria, archaea, fungi, actinomycetes)
• Microfauna (nematodes, protozoa)
• Macrofauna (earthworms, rodents)
– Microbially mediated transformations (C, N, S, P, etc.)
– Rhizosphere processes
– Mycorrhizal symbioses
– Soil-borne pathogens
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