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Soils2023 Day1 BasicSoilProperties

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35 views47 pages

Soils2023 Day1 BasicSoilProperties

Uploaded by

narendra rawat
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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PA Boot Camp Level 1

Basic Soil Properties

Photo Credits: Ron Nichols, USDA-NRCS


Soil Basics
• Soil is a mixture of minerals, organic matter,
water, and air, which forms on the land surface.
• It can support the growth of plants.
• Soil supports countless microorganisms.
• It comes in many different types.
Soil performs critical functions…
Our food comes directly or indirectly from
plants anchored in and nourished by soil.
Soils provide habitat for soils organisms
Water we drink and use everyday has been
filtered by soil.
Soils process and recycle nutrients,
including carbon, so that living things can
use them over and over again.
Soils serve as the foundation for the
construction of roadbeds, dams and
buildings.
-Soil Science Society of America
Soil Formation
• Unique types of soils
form under unique
sets of Soil Forming
conditions

s = f( cl, o, r, p, t )
(H. Jenny, 1941 book “Factors of Soil
Formation”)
5 Soil Forming Factors

Climate Organisms
(temp and precip)
(biota)

Relief
Landscapes Parent Material
(topography) (geology)

Interacting together over a period of Time


Soil Forming Factors

Climate – Soils develop faster in warm moist


climates, and slower in cold or arid ones.
Organisms – Plant roots, animal burrows and
bacteria break down large soil particles into
smaller ones

Photo Credit: USDA NRCS


Soil Forming Factors - Organisms
A horizon = 4 inches

A horizon = 14 inches

Prairie Forest
Soil Forming Factors

Parent Material – Soils inherit traits from the parent


material. They may be formed in place or transported
by flooding rivers, moving glaciers or blowing winds.

Topography – Deeper soils form at the bottom of a


hill because gravity and water move soil particles
down slope.

Time – All the factors work together over time.


Soil Formation - Parent Material
Soil Formation - Parent Material

Glacial Deposits
Soil Formation – Landscape Position
Soil Formation - Relief
• Influence on water flow and soil formation
• Most wetlands are on some sort of concave
surface

Hill Slope Elements and Curvature


After Pennock et al., 1987
Overland and Throughflow:
Convergent landscapes Potential hydric soil
Slope Block Contour zone
Runoff
Upslope

Infiltration
Divergent Percolation

Upslope

Throughflow “Epiaquic”
Convergent
“Endoaquic”
Modified from Pennock et al., 1987
Average Soil Composition

25% Water 45% mineral

Pore
space
50% { } Solids
50%

25% Air 5% Organic Matter


Soil Organic Matter –
Influences on Physical and Chemical Properties

1) Improves physical condition


Plant and animal residues contribute to aggregation of
soil particles
2) Increased water infiltration
Allows water saturation by acting as an absorbent
3) Improves Soil Tilth
Allows for more uniformity of the soil aggregates in
proportion to the plant, animal and mineral residues
present
Soil Organic Matter
1. Living portion – microorganisms, insects, plant
roots and earthworm break down crop residues
and manures. Sticky substances produced by
earthworms and fungi help bind soil particles
together and form stable aggregates .

2. Dead Organic Matter – dead micro-organisms,


insects, earthworms, roots, crop residues and
manures. Decay and releases plant nutrients,
builds soil structure, food for living
microorganisms.
Organic Soils
Organic horizons
Consist of decomposed
organic material
• Peat (fibric) – least
decomposed
• Mucky peat (hemic)
• Muck (sapric) – most
decomposed
Mineral Soils

Mineral horizons
• Primarily sand,
silt, and clay, with
varying amounts
of organic matter
Soils Have Texture
Sand Silt Clay
2 to 0.05 mm 0.05 to 0.002 mm < 0.002 mm

Particles visible without Not typically visible by Seen only with an


a magnifying glass the unaided eye electron microscope
Feels coarse and gritty Feels smooth and floury Feels stiff and sticky

Photos by Jim Baker, Virginia Tech


Soil Texture Triangle
Soil Texture - Particle-Size Distribution

Clay left in
Suspension

Settled Silt

Settled Sand

Soil Mineral Particles Settled in Cylinder

Remember Stokes Law: The bigger they are, the faster they fall (in water)!
Texture and Pore Space

Coarse Textured Soil Fine Textured Soil

Less porespace but More total porespace


more macropores
Plant Available Water
Inches water/ft soil

Sand Sandy Silt Clay Clay


loam loam loam
Soils Have Structure
• Soil structure is the arrangement of soil particles into small
clumps, called “peds”.
• Soil structure and texture affect how the soil will hold water
and nutrients.
Common Types of Soil Structure
Granular
Platy
Prismatic
Columnar
Blocky
Single Grain
Massive
Maintaining Soil Structure
• Granular, loamy textured soils make the best
farmland.
• Compaction from heavy traffic destroys soil
structure and prevents good plant root
development.

Photo Credit: USDA NRCS


Soils Have Color

Color can tell us about


the soil’s mineral content.
• Soils with a lot of
organic matter are
dark brown or black.
• Soils high in iron are
deep orange-brown
and yellowish-brown.

Photo Credit: Soil Science Society of America


Soil Color

Color tells us how a soil


behaves.
• A soil that drains well
is brightly colored.
• A soil that is often
wet may have
mottles of grays,
reds, and yellow.
Soil Color
Oxidation State of Iron

GOOD AERATION POOR AERATION


1. Iron is oxidized 1. Iron is reduced
2. Fe+++ 2. Fe++
3. bright colors (yellows, 3. dull colors (grays,
browns) blue)
4. well drained 4. poorly drained
Soil Color
Drainage on this farm?

Well Poorly
Drained Drained
Soil Color
Munsell
• Hue
• Value
• Chroma
Hue

Red

0 2.5R 5R 7.5R 10R


Yellow-Red

0 2.5YR 5YR 7.5YR 10YR


Yellow

0 2.5Y 5Y 7.5Y 10Y


Value

• 10/0 - Pure White


The Lightness or
Darkness of Color
• 5/0 - “Gray”

• 0/0 - Pure Black


7.5 YR 2.5/2
7.5 YR 5 / 8
Chroma
“Neutral” “Pure”
Gray Color

/0 /2 /4 /6 /8

Increasing strength of color

Increasing grayness
Soil Horizons

• A Horizon

• B Horizon

• C Horizon
Major Horizon Designations

Surface Organic Layer O Horizon


Surface Mineral Layer
A Horizon

Subsoil B Horizon

Underlying C Horizon
Material

Bedrock R Horizon
There is no set number of
horizons a soil profile can
have.
Horizons are differentiated by
changes in:

1. Color
2. texture
3. roots
4. structure
5. rock fragments
6. redoximorphic features (mottling)
O horizon -
Predominantly organic matter
(litter and humus)
A horizon -
Zone of organic matter accumulation
E horizon -
Zone of eluviation (loss of clay, Fe, Al)
B horizon -
Zone of accumulation (clay, Fe, Al, CaC03, salts…).
Forms below O, A, or E horizon
C Horizon Zone of little or no biological activity and
physical and chemical weathering.
Drainage Classes

• Frequency and duration


of wetness under which
the soil formed.

• Depth to gray mottles


(chroma <2
redoximorphic features)
Drainage Classes
• Drainage Depth to Evidence of Wetness
• excessively drained > 60”
• somewhat excessively drained > 60”
• well-drained > 40” (or 36”)
• moderately well-drained* 20-40’’(or 18-36”)
• somewhat poorly drained 8-20”
• poorly drained 0-8”
• very poorly drained 0
*In Pennsylvania, moderately well drained soils sometimes have some
redoximorphic features (mottles) between 10 and 20”, but < 2% of the
matrix.
Drainage Classes
Soil Depth – Depth to Restrictive Layer
Depth Classes
• Depth Class Depth
• Very deep > 60”

• Deep 40 - 60”

• Moderately Deep 20 - 40’’

• Shallow 10 - 20”

• Very Shallow 0 - 10”

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