SOIL – Is the loose surface material consisting of inorganic particles and organic matter that

covers most of the land surface. Soil provides the structural support and the source of water and

nutrients for plants used in agricultures.

First of all, before I talked about the different types of soil, I would like to introduce a

little bit background about soil, so according to the definition above soil covers most of the land

parts of the earth, we can find plants, animals, building and other organism on the soil. We live

on the soil and it helps us in many ways, there are chances that we haven’t though a lot about the

soil under our feet but during my research on this topic I was surprised at the complexity of soil.

Soil varies in its composition and the structure of its particles and these factors are closely

examined by farmers because they need appropriate soil for planting craps as well as engineers

which I found out that engineers need to understand how is soil going to hold up under different

demands. Soil developed slowly over time and is composed of many different materials like

inorganic material or those materials that are not living include weathered rocks and minerals.

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  Weathering – is the mechanical or chemical process by which rocks are broken down

into smaller pieces.

So as rocks are broken down into smaller pieces they mix with organic materials which

are those materials that originate from living organism for example when plants and

animals die and decompose releasing nutrients back into the soil.

Why is Soil Important?

Well, soil is important in Civil Engineering regardless of the types of structure we may build in

our career they will all be supported by soils, so as an Engineer how do we learn about a specific

sites soil? Well according to Geotechnical Engineering report, it examines a site and performs

standardized tests on its soils from the they will make specific recommendations to both the

structural and Civil Engineers relative to earth work like the foundation design and also in

anticipated structural settlement.

Soil Profile

The vertical layer of soil that shows all of the different layers is the soil profile, the profile is

much like our profile on social media, it tell other all about us. So the profile of the soils tells all

about the soils.

Soil Horizon

Soil Horizon however is each individual layers of the profile each layer has different physical

properties. So we collected these layers of soils as we progress vertically from the top these

layers from this point forward we’re going to refer to as horizon as the pictures shown below.

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 “O” Organic root mat – So the first horizon which may be present is the O or organic

layers of root mat or accumulated plant material.

So when we talk about organic matter into soil, we’re talking about any particle that was

either once living or is currently living things like leaves, insects any kind of like

earthworms and mostly we’re talking about vegetation in the soil but it could also be

anything else that once living

 “A” Topsoil or houmous– is the horizon that is under the organic layer or in the absence

of an organic horizon it maybe the top layer present.

These horizion is partially decompose organic matter and I think that’s going to be an

important component of our soil. It is a mix of minerals and also all the organic from the

horizon above.

 “E” Eluviated – It is a mineral horizon present only in forested areas below the topsoil

horizon.

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 It is a light colored, leached (washed down or eluviated due to rainwater from the topsoil

level horizon. Mainly it contains silicates.

 “B” Subsoil - These Horizon will contain roots and the vertical movement of rainwater

from the Topsoil and Organic horizon

Not a lot of organics found in here. But we are still going to have minerals and nutrients

that are pushed down from the soil layers above. So over time the Subsoil becomes

enriched with organic matter and slowly turns into the tops.

 “C” Parent material, large rock - is the parent source for the Subsoil layer which in

turn parents the topsoil horizon.

When we talk about the parent material of a soil, we’re talking about the starting point of

a soil so try to imagine what was there before the soil, started to develop, that material is

from which the soil will develop the parent material so in this case mostly that’s going to

be glacial debris at least in our area. It could also be solid rock or it could be volcanic in

nature anything that is sort of the starting point of a soil.

 “R” Bedrock – The final horizon though it is not illustrated is the Solid bedrock layer.

Different Types of Soil

There are four types of Soil Sand, Clay, Silt and loam we know that the soil comes from tiny

pieces of weathered rock, so the difference between soil types is the size of the rock particles.

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1. Sand - is light, warm, dry and tend to be acidic and low in nutrients. Sand or sandy soils

are often known as light soils due to their high proportion of sand and little clay.

it feels rough and gritty and sandy soil has air spaces between the grains of sand (see

picture a), the air space lets water drain through sand quickly (see picture b), so for

example when we are in the beach we sometimes build castle on sand so that sand-castle

washes away in the tide of the sea because sands does not hold on to a lot of water.

a. b.

2. Clay - is a heavy soil type that benefits from high nutrients.

Clay soils remain wet and cold in winter and dry out in summer.

It is also the smallest particles it feels sticky when wet and hard when dry, the small rock

particles packed tightly together holding the most water (see picture c), but there is little

space for air (see picture d), so the water helps clay keep its shape so it is used to make

like pottery.

c. d.
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 3. Silt - is a light and moisture retentive soil type with a high fertility rating.

It feels smooth when wet, silt particles hold on to more water than sand (see picture e).

For example when a bird’s footprint sticks to silt soil, because silt does not drain as much

water.

e.

4. Loam - is the best soil for growing plants and it is the mixture of sand, silt and clay and

houmous.

So houmous is made of decaying plants and animal it adds nutrients to soil and gives it a

darker color, so the combination of soil and houmous makes loam the best soil for

growing plants because it has the perfect amount of air, water and nutrients.

Other types of soil

5. Peat soil – is high in organic matter and retains a large amount of moisture.

This type of soil is very rarely found in a garden and often imported into a garden to

provide an optimum soil base for planting.

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 6. Chalky soil – is comprised mostly of calcium carbonate from sediment that has built up

over time. It is usually shallow, stony and dries out quickly.

References

http://www.boughton.co.uk/products/topsoil/soil-types/

http://thefactfactor.com/facts/pure_science/biology/soil-profile/1977/

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/266317034_Geothecnical_Engineering_pRACTICAL

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