Gambella University

College of Agriculture and Natural Resource

Department of Soil Resource and Watershed Management

(SRWM)

Introduction to Soil Science (SRWM2054)

Awoke Endalew (MSc.)

Gambella University
April, 2022
1
Course outline
1. Introduction

2. Soil constituents

3. Physical properties of soil

4. Soil water, soil air and temperature

5. Soil Colloids: their Nature and significance

6. Chemical properties of Mineral Soils

7. Soil organic Matter

8. Essential plant nutrients and their sources

2
Chapter 1: Introduction
The term soil is derived from a Latin word “solum” which means
floor.

Soil is a term that has variable meanings depending on the angle

we are looking at it.

 A soil for a civil engineer- it is a material that supports the

building or the road. Vertisol..??

 A soil for a mining engineer- it is debris that covers the

minerals that should be removed and discarded.

A soil for the city inhabitant - it is dust that makes their clothes
and shoes dirt.
3
What is a soil for a soil scientist?
 The (modern Major) concepts of soils as a soil scientist
considers are: -

1. Soil as a medium for plant growth

Recognizes the contributions to soil development and realizes
that the most important practical use of soils is in crop
production.

This is the earliest concept because man has used soil for
growing crops for his food long before he understood its nature
and its origin.

Soil is a medium for plant growth because it provides

mechanical support, water, air, heat and nutrients to plants. 4
6
 Definitions of soils
 Soils are that portion of the earth’s crust in which plants can
grow:

– If water and temperature are adequate,

– At least the minimum nutrients are available and

– Toxic substances are in low concentration.

 Soils can also be defined as the unconsolidated mineral

material on the immediate surface of the earth that serves as
a natural medium for the growth of land plants.

7
Definitions of soils
• Putting all together soil is a dynamic natural body
composed of mineral and organic solids, gases, liquids and
living organisms which can serve as a medium for plant
growth.
What is soil science???
 Soil Science is a science dealing with soils as a natural resource
on the surface of the earth, including:
–soil formation, classification and mapping (Soil pedology)
– Soil physical properties (Soil physics)
–Soil chemical properties (Soil chemistry

8
1.2. Functions of the soil

 Soils have the following major functions:

1. It serves as medium for plant growth

Provides physical support to plants
Helps respiration function properly by allowing
CO2 to escape and O2 to enter the root zone

Makes water available to plants

Moderates temperature fluctuation
Support plants with mineral nutrients
9
 Cont…………

2. Recycles raw materials of animal and plant

bodies in to humus,

3. Serves as habitat for soil microorganisms,

4. Serves an engineering medium to build roads,

houses, air fields, laboratories,

5. Provision of construction materials,

6. Provision of food, fiber and fuel,

7. Carbon sequestration
10
8. Water purification and soil contaminant reduction

9. Climate regulation

10. Source of pharmaceuticals and genetic resources

11. Flood regulation

11
1.3. Why we study soil?
Along with the water we drink and the air we breathe, soil
is one of our most important natural resources.

On which our basic needs of food, water, fuel, clothing

and shelter must be met from the soil, which is in limited
supply.

As population and aspirations increase, so soil becomes an

increasingly degraded resource.

Therefore, we need to protect soil by keeping it healthy

and using it wisely.
12
 Cont…………….
Soil scientists help us do this.

Many soil scientists work with farmers, foresters,

wine producers and other land users.
The healthier the soil, the healthier the products that
come from it.
 We all need healthy food to eat, but our soil does
more than just feed us.

It is a big part of our economy.

13
1.4. Major Components of Soil

A soil is simply a porous medium consisting of:

Mineral (inorganic) constituent (40-60%): extremely

variable in size ranging from 0.0002 to 2 mm in diameter.

 Organic matter (5%): represents an accumulation of

partially decayed and partially synthesized plant and animal
residues.

Soil water (25-50%): makes up soil solution, together with

its dissolved salts, which is important as a medium for
supplying nutrients to growing plants.
14
 Cont……………

 Soil air (10-25%): The amount and composition of soil air is

determined to a large degree by the water content of the soil.

 Soil air differs from atmospheric air in several respects.

E.g.
1. Higher moisture content than the atmosphere. The
relative humidity of soil air approaches 100% unless the
soil is very dry.

2. CO2 is usually much higher and that of O2 is lower.

15
 Cont …………..
In the soil, the spaces between the particles of solid material are just important as
to the soil solids.

It is in these pore spaces that:

 Air and water circulate,
 Roots grow and
 Microscopic organisms live.

The relative proportions of water and air in a soil typically fluctuate greatly as
water is added or lost.

Soils with much more than 50% of their volume in solids are likely to be
compacted for good plant growth.

16
Figure 1. Volume composition of a loam surface soil with
good conditions for plant growth 17
 Cont………………
These soil components fall into two categories.

The first category is biotic factors: - all the living and once-living
things in soil, such as plants, microorganisms and insects.

The second category consists of abiotic factors, which include all

nonliving things: -
• For example, minerals, water, and air.

The most common minerals found in soil that support plant growth
are phosphorus, and potassium and also, nitrogen gas.

Other, less common minerals include calcium, magnesium, and

sulfur.
18
1.5. Approaches in Soil Study
 Soil study can be undergone in two basic approaches.

1.The pedological approach: considers soil as a natural entity, a

bio-chemically weathered and synthesized product of nature.

 Pedologists study soils as natural bodies, the properties of soil

horizons, and the relationships among soils within a landscape.

 Therefore, they place minor emphasis on its immediate

practical utilization.

 A pedologist’s information about the soil is useful to any user

of the soil.
19
1.5. Approaches in Soil Study

2. The edaphological approach:

Edaphologists focus on the soil as habitat for living things

or plants.

 An edaphologist considers the various properties of soil as

they are related to plant production.

S/he has ultimate goal of food and fiber production.

Thus, s/he looks for reasons for variations in the productivity

of soils and options for improving them.

20
 Chapter 2: Soil Formation

The first astronauts to explore the moon suits to

collect samples of rocks and dust from the lunar
surface.

These they carried back to Earth for analysis.

It turned out that moon rocks are similar in

composition to those found deep in the Earth.

The force of gravity eventually pulled this material

together to form the moon. 21
 Cont……………
On the moon, this rock remained unchanged or crumbled into
dust with the impact of meteors.

On Earth, the rock at the surface, eventually coming in contact

with water, air, and living things, was transformed into
something new, into many different kinds of living soils.

Rocks are the naturally occurring hard and consolidated

inorganic materials of the earth.

Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline solids

that have definite physical and chemical properties.
22
 Cont………….
Rocks in Earth’s crust were formed from magma (molten rock
material) pushed up from the mantle (interior layer of Earth).

While the original rock material comes from the mantle,

geologists distinguish three distinct processes of rock
formation: every rock is then generally classified according to
its mode of formation.

The three major groups of rocks are igneous, sedimentary and

metamorphic.

23
 Cont………..
Soils are formed at the interface of the worlds of rocks (the
lithosphere), air (the atmosphere), water (the hydrosphere) and
living things (the biosphere).

Figure 2. Soil formation at the interface of the four spheres.

24
 Cont…………

• All soils develop from weathered rock, volcanic ash

deposits, or accumulated plant residues.

• These particles from which soils are formed are known as

parent materials.

• Parent materials developed from rocks are deposited by

water, glaciers, wind or gravity, volcanic eruption, etc to
form land areas called landforms.

25
 Cont…………..
 Primary materials-
 Quartz,  Soda lime
 Micas,  Augite
 Feldspars.  Biotite
 Hornblende  Microcline etc.
 These materials are prominent in the sand and silt fractions of soils.

 Secondary materials-
• Silicate clays and
• Oxides of fe and al.
• They are formed by breakdown of less resistant minerals.
• They dominate the clay and in some cases the silt fractions.
26
Cont ………..

27
2.1. Weathering
The physical and chemical breakdown of rocks to form
fragmented particles is called weathering.

Weathering is classified in to physical and chemical

weathering.

The disintegration of the parent material into smaller and

smaller pieces with no change in mineral structure or
composition is called Physical weathering.

Physical weathering is the disintegration of rocks caused by

temperature fluctuation; abrasion by water, ice and wind; plant
roots and animal action. 28
 Cont……….
Only the grain sizes become smaller and smaller, but
compositions are not changed and no new materials are formed.

 There are several physical processes of weathering:

1. Abrasion
• Water carrying suspended rock fragments has a scouring action
on surfaces.
• The grinding action of glaciers, gravels, pebbles and boulders
moved along a constantly abraded by fast-flowing streams.

29
Fig. 4. Effects of water on weathering and the breakdown of rock. 30
2. Freezing and thawing

When water is trapped in the rock crevices and pores of a

rock and is subjected to repeatedly freezing and thawing
results in forces of expansion and contraction.

The water near the rock surface, exposed to the cold air,
freezes first, exerting pressure on the water remaining in the
rock crevices and pores.

The pressure resulting from the growth of ice crystals within

rocks is sufficiently high to crack the rocks apart.

31
3. Thermal expansion and contraction of minerals
• Rocks are composed of different kinds of minerals.

• When heated up by solar radiation, each different mineral

will expand and contract a different amount at a different rate
with surface temperature fluctuations.

• With time, the stresses produced are sufficient to weaken the

bonds along grain boundaries, and thus flaking of fragments.

4. Release of confining pressure

Many of the rocks at the earth’s surface were formed at
considerable depth and later were uncovered by erosion of the
overlying rock material. 32
 Cont……..
 Deeply buried rocks are subjected to high, and equal, pressure on all

sides.

 The vertical pressure lessens progressively as more and more of the

overlying rocks are removed by erosion.

 This release of pressure allows the compressed rock to expand in the

vertical direction, forming curved sheets parallel to the earth’s surface.

The formation of curved sheets of rock by release of pressure is called

Exfoliation.

33
 Cont……..
 Exfoliation results in the formation of rounded features
called exfoliation domes.

34
5. Crystallization /salt crystal growth/
• In arid environments, water evaporates at the surface of rocks and crystals form from dissolved minerals.

• Overtime, the crystals grow (they expand their volume) and exert a force great enough to separate
mineral grains and break up rocks.

6. Animals and plants /living organisms/

The growth of plant and tree roots into rock crevices pries apart the
rock in a process called root wedging.
Burrowing animals and extensions of plant roots help in the formation
of regolith by physically displacing rock particles and increasing the
volume of openings in the regolith.
These new openings allow more oxygen and water to penetrate the
regolith, increasing the effects of chemical weathering. 35
 Chemical weathering
The decomposition of the original parent material, forming new
minerals and soluble substances, is called chemical weathering.

Chemical weathering is decomposition of rocks due to

chemical actions like:

1. Hydration
• Hydration involves the rigid attachment of H and OH ions to
the compound being attacked.

2Fe2O3 + 3H2O 2Fe2O3.3H2O

Hematite (red) Limonite (yellow) 36
 2. Hydrolysis
•Hydrolysis is the reaction between minerals and the H+ and
(OH)- ions, that are formed during dissociation of water.
KAlSi3O8 + H2O → HAlSi3O8 + K+ + OH-

Microcline (solid) → Solid Solution

3. Dissolution
•Water is capable of dissolving many minerals by hydrating the
cations and anions until they become dissociated from each
other and surrounded by water molecules. This process is called
dissolution.
CaSO4.2H2O + 2H2O → Ca2+ + SO42- + 4H2O
37
Gypsom (solid) → Solution
 4. Carbonation
•When CO2 dissolves in water, the carbonic acid produced hastens
the chemical dissolution of some minerals such as calcite in
limestone or marble. This procedure is called carbonation.
CO2 + H2O → H2CO3
CaCO3 + H2CO3 → Ca2+ +2HCO3-
Calcite (Solid) → Calcite (solution)

5. Oxidation-reduction
Oxidation is the combination of oxygen ions with cations
such as iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium.
4FeO +O2 +2H2O → 4FeOOH
38

Ferrous oxide (Fe2+) → Geotite with ferric ion (Fe3+)

Figure 5. Pathways of weathering that occur under moderately acid conditions
common in humid temperate regions. 39
2.2. Soil forming factors
Those natural factors affecting formation of one or another
soil are called soil forming factors.

Soils forming factors are parent material, climate, biota,

topography and time.

2.2.1. Parent materials

 Residual parent materials- parent materials that develop in

situ from weathering of underlying rock.

 Colluvial debris- parent materials that are detached from the

heights above and carried down slope by gravity. 40
 Cont………..
Alluvial stream deposits- parent materials that are carried by
rivers from up stream lands and deposited down stream.

41
 Cont……………

Marine sediments- parent materials that are deposited in

oceans and coastal areas.

Lacustrine Sediments- parent materials that are deposited

in lakes.

Glacial till (moraines)- parent materials that are moved

and deposited by moving ice.

Sand dunes and loess (Eolian deposits) - parent materials

carried away and deposited by wind.

42
 Cont……….

Volcanic ash - parent materials spread and

deposited by volcanic eruption

Aerosolic dust- Parent materials of very fine

particles picked up by wind and re-deposited by
rainfall.

Peat- parent materials of plant origin that deposit

when plant growth exceeds rate of decomposition.

43
 Cont……….

Figure 2.10 How various kinds of parent material are formed, transported, and
deposited. 44
 Parent material and soil relationship

•Volcanic ash parent materials - Andisols

•Alluvial stream deposits - Fluvisols

•Peat parent materials - Histosols

•Moraines - Gelisols

•Sand dunes - Aridisols

•Basalt- Nitisols, Luvisols

45
2.2.2. Climate

 Climate is the regular pattern of weather conditions of a

particular place.

a)Rainfall
Excess rainfall causes excessive cation leaching and

formation of acidic soils

While in areas where there is deficiency of water, leaching of

nutrients do not happen.

Therefore, in dry areas soils with abundant soluble salts are

formed. 46
Figure 7. influence of precipitation on soil formation.
47
• Temperature

Temperature highly affects different bio-chemical

reactions in the soil.

For every 10oC rise in temperature, the rate of bio-

chemical reaction doubles.

Therefore, in regions with higher temperature,

weathering will be high if enough moisture is
available (Figure 2).

48
Relationships between precipitation and
temperature

49
2.2.3 Biota
a. Natural vegetation: has the following effects in soil formation.

Horizon development (formation of A- horizon)

– In the grassland areas, thick A horizon with rich organic

matter forms because there is insignificant leaching effect.

– Under forest condition, thin A-horizon with leached E-

horizon form due to the leaching effect of tree exudates.

50
 Cation cycling

Litter falling from coniferous trees will recycle only small

quantities of Ca, Mg and K compared to deciduous trees.

Because the former trees have leaves that are hardly degradable
than the later.

b. Animal
Animals also play a significant role in soil formation.

They involve in mixing soil horizons and formation of crotovinas.

51
The effect of biota on nutrient loss from the
soil

52
2.2.4. Topography (Relief)

 Topography is the configuration of the land surface (elevation, slope

and landscape position).

 Topography affects the type of parent material.

On the summit part of a sloppy landscape, residual materials are
available;
while on the toe slope, we find colluvial materials; and
on the flood plains alluvial materials accumulate.

 Therefore, the type of the soils formed on each parent material vary
(Figure 3).

53
Figure 10.The effect of topography on parent material
accumulation 54
Figure 11. Topography influences soil properties 55
 Cont………….
Slope aspect also determines soil formation.

Slope aspect is the direction (south or north) that a slope

faces with respect to the sun.

In the northern hemisphere, the south aspect is warmer

that the northern.

Therefore, in a single mountain, the soil in the southern side

will have less moisture and organic matter content as
compared to the northern face.

In the southern hemisphere the opposite is true.

56
Fig. 12: Effect of aspect on soil formation 57
2.2.5 Time
• Soil formation is not a one day affair.

• It requires long years of interaction between parent

materials, climate, biota and topography.
• Under ideal conditions, a recognizable soil profile
may develop within 200 years;

• Under less favorable circumstances, the time may

be extended to several thousand years.

58
 Cont………
 Of the five soil-forming factors :
Two of them (climate and organisms) are called active
factors.
They are catalysts that cause soil to form.
Their influence over soil development can be directly
observed.
 The other three, parent material, topography, and time
are called passive factors.
They respond to the forces exerted by climate and
organisms and their effects are not immediately observed .
2.3. Soil forming processes
During the formation (genesis) of a soil from parent material, the
regolith undergoes many profound changes.

These changes are brought about by variations of four broad soil-

forming processes (Figure 13).

These four basic processes are often referred to as the soil-forming

or pedogenic processes.

These are:
 Additions
 Losses
These are responsible
 Transformation
for the development of the solum or true soil from
the unconsolidatedparent
Translocation
material.

60
1. Additions
 Nitrogen is added to the soil from bacterial fixation
(biological nitrogen fixation) of leguminous plants.

 Organic matter from leaves and grasses that are synthesized

from energy of sunlight is added to the soil.

 Sediments are added to parent materials from wind and

water.

 Salts, organic residues, fertilizers and other substances are

added through various agricultural practices.

 Soluble salts from ground water and irrigation water are added
to the parent material to form a specific soil. 61
2. Losses
 Losses result from:
 Chemicals soluble in soil water,
 Eroded small-sized fractions,
 Nutrients removed in grazed and harvested plants,
 Water losses,
 Carbon losses as carbon dioxide, and

 Denirification loss of nitrogen.

 Leaching and erosion remove nutrients, organic matter or

parent materials themselves to create specific type of a soil.
62
3. Transformations
• Rock materials must undergo weathering processes to
form parent materials on which a soil can develop.

• Transformations happen because of the many chemical

and biological reactions .

– Rock materials to form parent materials

– Organic matter break down to nutrients and humus

– Insoluble materials to soluble substances

63
4. Translocation
In many cases, weathered materials are transported
and re-deposited on a place where soil development can
happen.

Many substances are translocated to different depths.

Example: clay to deeper layers;
Soluble salts into groundwater or to the soil
surface as water evaporates;
Soil movement by animals /ants, termites,
earthworm/
64
Fig. 13. Soil
forming processes

65
2.4. Pedon and Soil profile
 A pedon is the smallest unit of land surface that can be used to

study the characteristic soil profile of a landscape.

 The rocks exposed at the earth’s surface has crumbled and

decayed to produce a layer of unconsolidated debris overlying
the unweathered rock.

 The unclonsolidated layer is called a regolith.

 The regolith contains the four layers i.e. ‘O’, ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’.

 The top three layers together form the solum.

 In some soils the solum may contain the E horizon.

66
 Each horizontal layer of the soil having distinct physical and
chemical properties and is called the soil horizon.

 The vertical section exposing a set of horizons in the wall of

soil pit is called the soil profile.

67
 There are five master horizons and layers in a soil
profile.

1. O horizon: the upper layer which contains organic

matter is called the organic horizon.
 It derived from the accumulation of dead plant and
animal matter (litter) at varying stages of
decomposition that have accumulated on the mineral
soil surface.
 They can be divided into two based on the stage of
decomposition of the debris. 68
 Cont…….
a. O1- organic horizon wherein the original forms of the plant
and animal residues can be recognized by the naked eye.

–The organic material is not decomposed by microorganisms.

–The sources of organic matter can be distinguished.

b. O2- the original forms of the plant and animal residues

/debris/ cannot be recognized.

–The source of organic matter cannot be distinguished.

69
 Cont………

The horizons below the O horizon are called the

mineral horizons.

The following are the mineral horizons.

2. A horizon- It is the top most mineral horizon

which contains enough partially decomposed
(humified) organic matter.
• It is a mineral horizon that is formed at the surface
or below an O layer.
70
 Cont…………
3. E horizon- Mineral horizons in which the main feature
is loss of silicate clay, iron, aluminum, or some
combination of these, leaving a concentration of sand and
silt particles.

The E horizon is called the elluvial horizon where

leaching (elluviation) of clay, iron and aluminum oxides
occur by leaving a concentration of resistant materials to
leaching such as quartz.

This horizon usually has light gray color and are common
in soils developed under forests. 71
 Cont…….
4. B horizon- is called the horizon of clay, iron and
aluminum oxides accumulation.
In this horizon, materials leached from the E
horizon accumulate.
It has darker color as compared to E horizon.
An illuvial concentration of silicate clay, iron,
aluminium, carbonates, gypsum, or humus are
observed and is called the illuvial horizon .

72
 Cont………
5. C horizon-This is the last soil horizon
containing unconsolidated material underlying the
solum.
• The C horizon contains the parent material.
• In this horizon, mineral horizons that are little altered
by soil forming processes are observed.

•R layer- Consolidated rock with little evidence of

weathering.
73
Figure 15. Soil horizon
74
 Transition horizons
 Transition horizons have characteristics of neighboring horizons.
 They are represented as AE, EB, BC, AB, etc.

Subordinate distinctions
 Subordinate distinctions of each horizon indicate the nature
of the master horizon.
 Which represented by small letters.
 Oi indicated O horizon with organic matter slightly
decomposed;
 Ap indicates an A horizon which is a plough layer;
 Bo indicates a B horizon with accumulation of oxides of
iron and aluminum. 75
Subordinate distinctions

t - illuvial accumulation of clay

w - weak development of structure or color

g - strong gleying indicative of high water table (usually grey

colored soil)

h - accumulation of illuvial organic matter

s - illuvial accumulation of sesquioxides

k - pedogenic accumulation of carbonates

p - tillage or other disturbance

b - buried horizon
76
 Quiz
1. _______ is the top most mineral horizon.
A. O-horizon B. A – horizon C. B – horizon D. E –
horizon

2. _______ horizon is called the illuvial horizon.

A. O B. E C. B D. A

3. Which of the following is active soil forming factor?

A. Parent material B. Climate C. Topography D. Time

4. List down the four major soil forming processes.

5. List the four components of the soil.

77