GEOGRAPHY

THE SOIL

RHEA BALDEO
AKIELA DAVID
REUBEN CUSH
QUESTION ONE (1)
Experiment:
Soil was collected and an experiment was done to separate sand, silt and clay.

The picture above shows the soil that was collected.

The picture above shows the distilled water that the soil was later poured into.

The organic particles settled at the top.

The soil didn’t have a lot of clay and silt so the colour of the water only changed without any
particles being shown.
The sand immediately settled at the bottom.
The picture above shows how the soil suspended when places in the water.

QUESTION TWO (2)

Explanation of terms:
Humus-As decomposition of dead plant matter and animals occurs, nutrients held within the
plant matter or animal is released to the soil. This end result of the decomposition is known as
humus. This humus represents up to 1 to 5% of the dry weight of the soil. Because it is rich with
nutrients, humus can be extremely valuable to the plant. It is also a “sink” to retain moisture.
Intrazonal Soil- Intrazonal soils (those with weakly developed horizons) include humic clay and
solonetz (dark alkaline soils) types found close to lakes and lagoons. Also included in this group
are soils formed from volcanic ash in the Cordillera Occidental from Chile to Ecuador.
Zonal Soil- having a profile determined mainly by the local climate and vegetation it is the soil
that has a profile determined predominantly by factors other than local climate and vegetation.
Silt Soil- Silt is a sediment material with an intermediate size between sand and clay. Carried by
water during flood it forms a fertile deposit on valleys floor. Due to its fineness, when wet it
becomes a smooth mud that you can form easily into balls or other shapes in your hand and when
silt soil is very wet, it blends seamlessly with water to form fine, runny puddles of mud.
Sand Soil- It is most extensively used construction material. It consists of particles of rock and
hard minerals, such as silicon dioxide. They are the largest type of soil particles, where each
particle is visible to naked eye. The bigger particle size of the sand gives wet or dry sandy soil a
grainy texture when you rub it between your fingers, and it makes the soil light and crumbly
even when you try to stick it together in your hand.
Call Soil- Clay is a fine grained cohesive soil. They stick together readily and form a sticky or
gluey texture when they are wet or dry. Due to the spaces found between clay particles, clay soils
hold a high amount of water. Clay expand when in contact with water and shrink when getting
dry. Compared to sand particles, which are generally round, clay particles are thin, flat and
covered with tiny plates.
QUESTION THREE (3)
Differences between soil and weathered rocks
The two main differences between soil and weathered rocks are their size and what they are
composed of.
Size- The soil particles varies in shape and size and for example clay has very fine particles
which enables it to hold water. The particles from weathered rocks would mostly likely be bigger
until further weathering takes place so it can be broken into smaller pieces.
Components- Soil is composed of a number of things e.g. nutrients, humus, etc. which
contributes to its fertility while weathered rocks is only composed of its parent material.