SOIL PROFILE and SOIL TYPES

ESCI-2111 Earth Science

There are different types of soil, each with its own set of characteristics.
Dig down deep into any soil, and you’ll see that it is made of layers, or
horizons (O, A, E, B, C, R). Put the horizons together, and they form a soil
profile. Like a biography, each profile tells a story about the life of a soil.
Most soils have three major horizons (A, B, C) and some have an organic
horizon (O).
The horizons are:

O – (humus or organic) Mostly

organic matter such as decomposing
leaves. The O horizon is thin in some
soils, thick in others, and not
present at all in others.
A - (topsoil) Mostly minerals from parent material with organic matter
incorporated. A good material for plants and other organisms to live.

E – (eluviated) Leached of clay, minerals, and organic matter, leaving a

concentration of sand and silt particles of quartz or other resistant
materials – missing in some soils but often found in older soils and forest
soils.
B – (subsoil) Rich in minerals that leached (moved down) from the A or E
horizons and accumulated here.
C – (parent material) The deposit at Earth’s surface from which the soil
developed.
R – (bedrock) A mass of rock such as granite, basalt, quartzite, limestone or
sandstone that forms the parent material for some soils – if the bedrock is
close enough to the surface to weather. This is not soil and is located under
the C horizon.
What Makes Soil, Soil?
SOIL HAS TEXTURE

The particles that make up soil are categorized into three groups by
size: sand, silt, and clay. Sand particles are the largest and clay particles the
smallest. Although a soil could be all sand, all clay, or all silt, that's rare.
Instead most soils are a combination of the three.

The relative percentages of sand, silt, and clay are what give soil its texture. A
loamy texture soil, for example, has nearly equal parts of sand, silt, and clay.
SOIL HAS STRUCTURE

Soil structure is the arrangement of soil particles into small clumps, called
"peds". Much like the ingredients in cake batter bind together to form a
cake, soil particles (sand, silt, clay, and organic matter) bind together to form
peds. Peds have various shapes depending on their “ingredients” and the
conditions under which the peds formed: getting wet and drying out,
freezing and thawing--even people walking on or farming the soil affects the
shapes of peds.
Ped shapes roughly resemble balls, blocks, columns, and plates. Between the
peds are spaces, or pores, in which air, water, and organisms move. The sizes
of the pores and their shapes vary from soil structure to soil structure.

Texture + structure = soil behavior. A soil’s texture and structure tells us a

lot about how a soil will behave. Granular soils with a loamy texture make
the best farmland, for example, because they hold water and nutrients well.
Single-grained soils with a sandy texture don’t make good farmland,
because water drains out too fast. Platy soils, regardless of texture, cause
water to pond on the soil surface.
SOIL HAS COLOR

Color can tell us about the soil’s mineral content. Soils high in iron are deep
orange-brown to yellowish-brown. Those with lots of organic material are
dark brown or black; in fact, organic matter masks all other coloring agents.

Color can also tell us how a soil behaves. A soil that drains well is brightly
colored. One that is often wet and soggy has an uneven (mottled) pattern of
grays, reds, and yellows.
Different Types of Soil

Sandy Soil

Sandy Soil is light, warm, dry and tend to be acidic and low in
nutrients. Sandy soils are often known as light soils due to their
high proportion of sand and little clay (clay weighs more than
sand).

These soils have quick water drainage and are easy to work
with. They are quicker to warm up in spring than clay soils but
tend to dry out in summer and suffer from low nutrients that
are washed away by rain.
Clay Soil

Clay Soil is a heavy soil type that benefits from

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

These soils are made of over 25 percent clay,

and because of the spaces found between clay
particles, clay soils hold a high amount of
water.
Silt Soil

Silt Soil is a light and moisture retentive soil type with a

high fertility rating. As silt soils compromise of medium
sized particles they are well drained and hold moisture well.
As the particles are fine, they can be easily compacted and
are prone to washing away with rain.

By adding organic matter, the silt particles can be bound

into more stable clumps.
Peat Soil

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.
Chalk Soil

Chalk soil can be either light or heavy but always

highly alkaline due to the calcium carbonate or lime
within its structure.

As these soils are alkaline they will not support the

growth of ericaceous plants that require acidic soils
to grow.
Loam soil is a mixture of sand, silt and clay that
are combined to avoid the negative effects of
each type.

These soils are fertile, easy to work with and

provide good drainage. Depending on their
predominant composition they can be either
sandy or clay loam.
Reference:

https://www.soils.org/discover-soils/soil-basics/what-makes-soil-
soil

https://www.soils4kids.org/about