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Formation of Soil
Formation of Soil
For a civil engineer, It is quite helpful to know the origin
of the soil deposit over which the foundation is to be
constructed because each soil deposit has it own unique
physical attributes.
The Rock Cycle
How soils are formed ?
Soils are formed by weathering of rocks.
How soils are formed ?

Weathering of Limestone in the premises of MUET

Types of Weathering
Physical Weathering: Reduction of size without any change in the original
composition of the parent rock.
Agents: Exfoliation, Unloading, Erosion, Freezing, and Thawing.

Chemical Weathering: Both reductions in size and chemical alteration of

the original parent rock
Agents: Hydration, Carbonation and Oxidation

Biological weathering also means organic weathering. It is the

disintegration of rocks as a result of the action by living organisms.
Agents: Plants and animals
Physical processes of weathering
1. Unloading (e.g. uplift, erosion, or change in fluid pressure)
2. Thermal expansion and contraction
3. Alternate wetting and drying
4. Salt crystal growth, including frost action
5. Organic activity (e.g. growth of plant roots)
Exfoliation
Erosion
Frost Action
• cycles of freezing and thawing of
water in surface pores or cracks.

• Daytime heating and night cooling

• Thermal Expansion causing breakage

of Rock
Large rock being mechanically weathered due to frost action
Uplift
➢Any process to move the surface
of the earth to higher elevation

➢Moment within the earth that

causes rocks inside the earth to
be moved to the earth surface

➢When rock is uplifted to the

surface weathering erosion and
deposition begins
Biological Weathering
Chemical processes
➢Carbonation

➢Hydration

➢Hydrolysis

➢Oxidation
Carbonation
• A chemical weathering process in which carbonic acid reacts
with a mineral

• Carbonic acid is derived from the solution in water of free

atmospheric soil-air carbon dioxide
Carbonation
• Rainwater dissolves CO2 producing carbonic acid.

• This acid can dissolve limestone

Carbonation

Honeycomb Weathering in Limestone due to Carbonation

Oxidation
• A reaction in which atoms or molecules gain oxygen or
lose hydrogen or electrons

• Iron plus oxygen produces rust

Fe2+ Fe3+ + electron

Oxidation turns this peridotite from gray to rusty brown
Types of Soils
Soil produced by the weathering of rocks can classified
into two broad categories:

Residual Soils: Soils stay where they were formed.

Transported Soils: Soils transported by physical

processes to other places.
Resdiual Soils
• Residual soils stay where they were formed and cover the rock
surface from which they derive.

• Found in areas where the rate of weathering is more than the

rate of transportation.

• The rate of weathering is higher in warm and humid regions.

Transported Soils (Cont.)
(1) Glacial soils: formed by transportation and deposition of
glaciers.
(2) Alluvial soils: transported by running water and
deposited along streams.
(3) Lacustrine soils: formed by deposition in quiet lakes.
(4) Marine soils: formed by deposition in the seas.
(5) Aeolian soils: transported and deposited by the wind .
(6) Colluvial soils: formed by movement of soil from its
original place by gravity, such as during
landslide
Glacial Deposits

• Soils laid down by melting glaciers.

• Physical characteristics vary from glacier to glacier.
• The resulting landforms are called moraines.
• Heterogeneous
• Unsorted and Un-stratified
Thick Glacial (Moraine) Deposits along KKH near Chilas, Gilgit
Thick Glacial (Moraine) Deposits along KKH near Chilas, Gilgit
Alluvial Deposits

• Transported by running water

• Deposited along streams.
• Gravel, sand, and/or silts
• Rounded grains
• Sorted and stratified
Visible Stratification in Alluvial Deposits
Alluvial Deposits along Indus River in Northern Area of Pakistan
Lacustrine Deposits

• Deposited in lakes
• Stratified
• Sorted
• Absence of stones - usually
Dry Hanna Lake in Quetta Offers Clear View of Lacustrine Soil Deposit
Aeolian Deposits

• Transported and deposited by wind

• Medium to fine sized sand
• Medium to fine sized silt
• or both sand and silt
• Sorted
Colluvial Deposits

• Moved by gravity
• Heterogeneous mix of sizes
• Unsorted, Un-stratified
• Landslides, Mudflows
Colluvium Moved Downslope of The Parent Hill By Gravity.
 Factors affecting soil formation
Climate (precipitation, temperature)
Vegetation (plants)
Parent material (geological/organic)
Organisms (soil microbes/fauna)
Relief (configuration of surface)
Time
Soil forming formula
S = f (cl, v, pm, r, o)t

where s is soil property, cl is climate,

v is vegetation, pm is parent material,
r is relief (topography), and
o is soil organisms.
The End