Lecture Materials, not for publication Soil Geography

FACTORS OF SOIL FORMATION:

Soil is a dynamic natural body, a living entity which is developed by natural forces acting on
natural materials. It takes a really long time for different components of soil to turn into what is
known as soil. Those components go through different physical, chemical and biological
processes to get into the form of a mature soil. During this process different living and non-living
entities of nature differently influence soil formation. These are the factors of soil formation.

V. V. Dokuchayev had initially identified Climate (C), Vegetation (V), Living Organisms (L)
and Parent Materials (P) as factors of soil (S) formation.

S= f (C, V, L, P)

Later he modified his scheme and gave 5 soil-forming factors which are- Climate (C), Biota (B),
Initial or Parent material (P), Terrain or Relief (R) and Time (T).

Fig 1: Five Natural Soil forming factors by Dokuchayev

H. H. Jenny (1941) had identified Climate (cl), Organism (o), Relief (r), Parent Materials (p) and
Time (t) as factors of soil formation.

S= f (cl, o, r, p, t..)

He later changed this equation into S= f(t), cl, o, r, p where interaction other factors on soil
formation changes over time. Again in 1961 he further modified his equation into-

I, S, v, a = f (L0, Px, t)

1 P. Das, Assistant Professor (W. B. E. S.)

Department of Geography, A. B. N. Seal College, Cooch Behar
 Lecture Materials, not for publication Soil Geography

Here nature of the soil (S) along with the nature of the ecosystem (I), vegetation characteristics
(v) and animal characteristics (a) is influenced by the physiographic character of the region at the
beginning or zero time (L0), amalgamation of other natural objects mainly climate (Px) and time
taken for soil formation (t).

Different soil scientists have thus identified different factors of soil formation and those can be
classified into the following-

SOIL FORMING
FACTORS

ACTIVE PASSIVE
(Generate energy to form soil) (Act as source materials of soil formation)

Living Parent
Climate Relief Time
Organisms Materials

Rainfall Temperature

Diagram: Factors of Soil Formation

A. Active Factors hugely impacts the processes of soil formation. Climate and Living
organisms are considered as active factors. Their influences are as follow-

Climate is a dominant factor. The same type of climate produces same type of soil from different
parent rocks. Climatic elements of Rainfall and Temperature have strong impact on formation of
soil.

1. Rain falling on the earth surface can percolate downward, can evaporate and again can
flow as surface runoff. The rate of percolation varies between 15% and 50% and this
depends on the amount and intensity of rainfall, amount of evaporation, soil structure and
texture etc. Rainfall influences the following-
• With more percolation of rainwater, more soluble minerals are brought deep into
the ground leading into soil profile development. In dry regions the less amount of
rainfall are percolated less and thus shallow soil layer is produced.
• In humid regions, more rainfall percolates deep into the ground and it carries with
it compounds (K2O, Na2O, CaO etc.) of basic minerals from the surface. It results
into acidic nature of upper layer of soil. On the other hand in dry regions, these
2 P. Das, Assistant Professor (W. B. E. S.)
Department of Geography, A. B. N. Seal College, Cooch Behar
 Lecture Materials, not for publication Soil Geography

compounds remain on the upper surface in absence of considerable percolation of

rainwater and the soil becomes alkaline.
• With more rainfall there occurs more chemical weathering which increases the
amount of clay in soil. Thus more clayey soil is found in humid regions.
• In humid regions more surface runoff and more percolation of rainwater carry
away minerals of Ca, Mg etc. from the ground. But in dry regions these remain on
the top soil.
2. Temperature is an important factor of physical as well as chemical weathering as the
later requires both high temperature and heavy rainfall and is more pronounced in hot and
humid equatorial region than in cold polar or dry environment. According to Vant Hoff a
double increase in temperature increases the chemical weathering 10 times.
• The incoming solar radiation is received by the upper surface and then is
conducted to the sub surface leading into physical disintegration and formation of
regolith (the primary stage of soil formation). Thus temperature influences the
depth of soil.
• With higher temperature there is more disintegration of rocks and these
disintegrated rocks have greater surface area which favours chemical weathering
and addition of more clayey minerals into the soil.
• Variation in temperature influences the amount of both organic matter and
nitrogen in soil. With higher temperature humus is readily produced from organic
matter, found at the top soil, and then gets rapidly mineralized. This in turn
reduces the nitrogen content in soil. So, amount of organic matter and nitrogen
content is found less in soils of high temperature region than in low temperature
regions.

Living Organisms, both plants and animals after their death, provide organic matter to soil
which again controls the different soil types. With addition of new organic matter the old ones get
mineralized. Remains of plants are considered to be the principal source of organic matter while
the animal remains are secondary. These organic matters or humus are amorphous materials
which help to hold plant nutrients to the surface and supply them to plants. These also influence
following physical properties of soil-

i. Helps to form soil structure, increases productivity

ii. Increases water or moisture holding capacity
iii. Determines soil colour
iv. Resists soil erosion when the amorphous organic matters take the strikes of raindrops and
saves the underlying sub-soil. Again organic matters bind soil particles into larger peds
which cannot be easily removed by weathering.

3 P. Das, Assistant Professor (W. B. E. S.)

Department of Geography, A. B. N. Seal College, Cooch Behar
 Lecture Materials, not for publication Soil Geography

e.g. In grassland region, humus rich black Chernozem soils are found which are alkaline in
nature. During summer water is drawn upwards to the soil surface by high summer temperature.
This water, while evaporating, leaves behind deposits of calcium. Whereas in coniferous forest,
acidic Podsols, are observed, which are ash in colour. The high acid content increases the
downward leaching of soluble nutrients by water and helps to produce soil profile with distinct
horizons.

Plants grow on soil and their roots help in further soil formation by biological weathering. Plant
roots, during respiration, release CO2 which mix up with water (H2O) and become carbonic acid
(H2CO3) which is a potent agent for chemical decomposition. Plant micro-organisms like
Bacteria, Fungi, Algae and Actinomycetes help in decomposing organic matter and releasing
chemical elements in them, oxidizing different compounds in soil for plant use and also by
adding organic matter to soil.

Macro and micro-organisms of animal nature help in soil formation and development. Micro-
organisms like- Protozoa, Nematodes regulate the number of bacteria in soil. Macro-organism
like- earthworm, centipedes, snails, mice etc. make burrows in soil which increases soil aeration
and water holding capacity. They also increase nitrogen content of soil. Worms and insects feed
on plant and animal remains and also aid aeration and water percolation. After their death they
too become source of organic matter to the soil.

B. Passive Factors themselves act as source materials for soil formation. These are Parent
Materials, Relief and Time.

Parent Materials are rock bodies upon which soil forms. These can be igneous, sedimentary or
metamorphic rocks and again these may be river borne alluvium, air borne loess or glacier borne
moraine etc. At the initial stage, parent materials guide soil formation but with passage of time
climate takes the dominant role. Parent materials have following influences-

• Physical properties (structure, texture, water holding capacity) and chemical properties
(acidity; alkalinity; Na, Mg, Ca contents) of soil are controlled by parent materials. e.g.
Soils derived from acidic granite, rhyolite are light coloured, sandy textured and acidic in
nature. Water holding capacity of these soils is low and these are less fertile. But soil
derived from basalt is dark coloured, clayey textured and alkaline in nature. These have
greater water holding capacity and are more fertile.
• If the amount of feldspar is high in parent rock, the soil would be clayey in nature. Under
hot and humid climate where feldspar content in rocks is within 50-60%, the amount of
clay in soil would be 50-55%. But in cool, arid region feldspar in parent rock is 35-40%
and the clay in soil reduces to 15-20%. On the other hand if the amount of quartz is high
in parent rock, the resultant soil would not be clayey in nature.

4 P. Das, Assistant Professor (W. B. E. S.)

Department of Geography, A. B. N. Seal College, Cooch Behar
 Lecture Materials, not for publication Soil Geography

• Acidic rocks readily produce acidic podsol soils. But if the parent rock is alkaline, soil
formation gets delayed. Iron and Aluminum oxides in parent rock cause the soil to be
lateritic.
• High Iron and Magnesium content in parent rock turn the soil reddish in colour. When the
quartz content is high in parent rock, gray or whitish soils are produced.
• Calcium content in parent rock produce well structured, stable soil which encourage
leaching process. But sodium content in parent rock produce segregated soil structure.

The amount of Relief determines the surface runoff, rate of erosion, amount of water percolation,
ground water level etc. which collectively affect soil formation. Different soil characteristics
develop on differently sloping ground.

• In case of leveled surface with less runoff and more water penetration, there occurs
greater depth of soil (more than 2 m) and rise in ground water level. The resultant soil has
higher moisture content, well defined horizon and becomes fertile in nature.
• Moderately sloping ground experiences comparatively lesser water penetration up to a
medium depth. Weathered soluble products are carried away more by running water and
thus soil formation gets hampered. The resultant soil has a lesser depth (around 1m), lacks
enough soil nutrients and is less fertile.
• In steeply sloping grounds heavy runoff takes away the soil nutrients from the top soil,
there is minimum water penetration hampering the profile development and thus the
resultant soil is very thin layered (depth between 0.5 and 1 m). This soil is not favourable
to vegetative growth.

The length of period to acquire mature soil from regolith is considered as Time taken for soil
formation. This depends on the following-

• Physical and Chemical weathering are more dominant in hot and humid regions than in
cool dry climate. So soil formation occurs faster in former condition.
• Soil formation occurs slowly from the hard rocks (Gneiss) than from soft rocks
(Sandstone).
• Repeated deposition of sediments (regular alluvia deposition from annual flooding,
deposition of loess by wind etc.) interrupts formation of mature soil.
• Due to gravity, talus from hillsides accumulates at the foot and resists the soil from
turning mature.
• Crustal movement of the earth influences soil formation. With uplift, erosion increases on
that part of earth and delays soil formation. Again with subsidence, soil formation gets
faster than erosion.

5 P. Das, Assistant Professor (W. B. E. S.)

Department of Geography, A. B. N. Seal College, Cooch Behar