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Soils Lecture 3

Soil is defined as solid earth material that supports plant life and is influenced by factors such as climate, organisms, parent material, topography, and time. The processes of soil development involve additions, transformations, vertical transfers, and removals, leading to the formation of distinct soil horizons. Soils play a crucial role in supporting biodiversity and providing essential environmental services.

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5 views

Soils Lecture 3

Soil is defined as solid earth material that supports plant life and is influenced by factors such as climate, organisms, parent material, topography, and time. The processes of soil development involve additions, transformations, vertical transfers, and removals, leading to the formation of distinct soil horizons. Soils play a crucial role in supporting biodiversity and providing essential environmental services.

Uploaded by

scalje2311
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Soils

We know more about the movement of celestial bodies


than about the soil underfoot.
- Leonardo da Vinci
Soil: Definition

• Solid earth material that has been altered


by physical, chemical and organic processes
so that it can support rooted plant life.

• Engineering definition: Anything that can be


removed without blasting
Factors of Soil Formation

• Climate

• Organisms

• Parental Material

• Topography

• Time
Factors of Soil Formation

Climate

• Temperature and
precipitation

• Indirect controls (e.g.,


types of plants)

• Weathering rates

The greater the rainfall


amount, the more rapid
the rate of both
weathering and erosion.
Factors of Soil Formation

Organisms
• Types of native vegetation

• Weathering is dependent of plant growth

• Plant and animal activity produces humic acids that


are powerful weathering agents. [acids derived from
chemical breakdown of organic matter]

• Plants can physically as well as chemically break


down rocks.

• Plants stabilize soil profiles, Animals (including


humans) tend to increase erosion.
Factors of Soil Formation

Parent Material
• Chemistry
• Mineralogy
• Grain size
Factors of Soil Formation
Topography:
• Ground slope
• Elevation
• Aspect (north vs. south facing slopes)
Factors of Soil Formation

Downslope transport of soil


is a function of slope:

Erosion rate = f(S)

Steeper slopes erode faster.

The steeper the surface


slope, the more likely any
eroded material is to be
transported out of the
system.
Factors of Soil Formation
Soils on hillslopes reach an equilibrium thickness, often
about 1m.

Soils on flat surfaces, such as floodplains or plateaus,


tend to thicken through time due to weathering rates
being greater than sediment transport rates.
Factors of Soil Formation

Time for development and destruction of soil


profiles

Typical chemical reaction rates are slow 


the longer a rock unit has been exposed,
the more likely it is to be weathered

And, the longer soil waits before transport,


the thicker it can become…
Processes of Soil Development

combined effects of:


• additions to ground
surface
• chemical
transformations
• vertical transfers
• removals from soil

relative importance
varies
Additions to soils

Inputs from outside ecosystem


Atmospheric inputs
Precipitation, dust, deposition
Horizontal inputs
Floods, tidal exchange, erosion, land-
water movement

Inputs from within ecosystem


Litterfall and root turnover
Transformations

Decomposition of organic matter


Breakdown to form soluble compounds that
can be absorbed leached away
Depends on input quantity, location (roots,
leaves), environment (temp & precip)
Humification to form complex organic matter

Weathering of rocks
Physical weathering / fragmentation of rock
Freeze-thaw; drying-wetting; fire
Chemical weathering
primary  secondary minerals
Parent material (bedrock) undergoes weathering to
become regolith (soil + saprolite).
Soil is a mixture of mineral and organic matter
lacking any inherited rock structure.

Soil
Saprolite is weathered rock that retains remnant
rock structure.

Saprolite
Saprolite
Soil Horizons and Profiles

Soil Horizons
over time, soil layers differentiate into distinct
‘horizons’
not deposited, but zones of chemical action
• Chemical reactions and formation of secondary
minerals (clays).
• Leaching by infiltrating water (elluviation)
• Deposition and accumulation of material leached
from higher levels in the soil (illuviation)

Soil Profile
Suite of horizons at a given locality
Typical soil profile
Soils are an important part of the natural heritage. They provide
the foundation for habitats and species diversity and are also of
intrinsic scientific interest.
Soils perform a wide range of environmental and ecological
services of importance to nature conservation, especially by
supporting priority habitats, and acting as a reservoir of
biodiversity function.
Definitions:
a) Humus: a semi-soluble chemical complex of organic matter
created by the action of bacteria and fungi.
b) Eluviation: flushing of fine particles like clay or dissolved
substances to the lower levels of the soil profile
c) Illuviation: the process of deposition of fine particles at the
lower level of soils.
d) Leaching: the complete chemical removal of dissolved
substances from the soil profile.

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