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SOILS
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Soil Classification
Agencies involved In the modern period, when men started to know about the various
characteristics of soil they began to classify soil on the basis of texture, colour, moisture etc.
When the Soil survey of India was established in 1956, they studied soils of India and their
characteristics.The National Bureau of Soil Survey and the Land Use Planning, an institute under
the control of Indian Council of Agriculture Research did a lot of studies on Indian soil.

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Major classification of Indian soils
Major soil types in India
Alluvial soil [43%]
Red soil [18.5%]
Black / regur soil [15%]
Arid / desert soil
Laterite soil
Saline soil
Peaty / marshy soil
Forest soil
Sub-mountain soil
Snowfields

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Alluvial soil:
Mostly available soil in India (about 43%) which covers an area of 15 lakh sq.km.Widespread in
northern plains and river valleys.In peninsular-India, they are mostly found in deltas and
estuaries.Humus, lime and organic matters are present.Highly fertile.Indus-Ganga-
Brahmaputhra plain, Narmada-Tapi plain etc are examples.They are depositional soil –
transported and deposited by rivers, streams etc.

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Sand content decreases from west to east of the country.New alluvium is termed as Khadar and
old alluvium is termed as Bhangar.
Colour: Light Grey to Ash Grey.
Texture: Sandy to silty loam or clay.
Rich in: potash
Poor in: phosphorous.
Wheat, rice, maize, sugarcane, pulses, oilseed etc are cultivated mainly.

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Red soil:
Seen mainly in low rainfall area.Also known as Omnibus group.Porous, friable structure.Absence
of lime, kankar (impure calcium carbonate).
Deficient in: lime, phosphate, manganese, nitrogen, humus and potash.
Colour: Red because of Ferric oxide. The lower layer is reddish yellow or yellow.
Texture: Sandy to clay and loamy.
Wheat, cotton, pulses, tobacco, oilseeds, potato etc are cultivated

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Black soil / regur soil:
Regur means cotton – best soil for cotton cultivation.Most of the Deccan is occupied by Black
soil.Mature soil.High water retaining capacity.Swells and will become sticky when wet and shrink
when dried.Self-ploughing is a characteristic of the black soil as it develops wide cracks when
dried.
Rich in: Iron, lime, calcium, potassium, aluminum and magnesium.
Deficient in: Nitrogen, Phosphorous and organic matter.
Colour: Deep black to light black.
Texture: Clayey.

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Laterite soil:
Name from Latin word ‘Later’ which means Brick.Become so soft when wet and so hard when
dried.In the areas of high temperature and high rainfall.Formed as a result of high leaching.Lime
and silica will be leached away from the soil.Organic matters of the soil will be removed fast by
the bacteria as it is high temperature and humus will be taken quickly by the trees and other
plants. Thus, humus content is low.
Rich in: Iron and Aluminum
Deficient in: Nitrogen, Potash, Potassium, Lime, Humus
Colour: Red colour due to iron oxide.
Rice, Ragi, Sugarcane and Cashew nuts are cultivated mainly.

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Desert / arid soil:

Seen under Arid and Semi-Arid conditions.Deposited mainly by wind activities.High salt
content.Lack of moisture and Humus.Kankar or Impure Calcium carbonate content is high which
restricts the infiltration of water.Nitrogen is insufficient and Phosphate is normal.
Texture: Sandy
Colour: Red to Brown.

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Peaty / marshy soil:

Areas of heavy rainfall and high humidity.Growth of vegetation is very less.A large quantity of
dead organic matter/humus which makes the soil alkaline.Heavy soil with black colour.

Forest soil:
Regions of high rainfall.Humus content is less and thus the soil is acidic.

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Mountain soil:
In the mountain regions of the country.Immature soil with low humus and acidic.

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SOILS: SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA

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WHAT IS SOIL SCIENCE?

Soil is a mixture of minerals, dead and living organisms (organic materials), air, and water. These
four ingredients react with one another in amazing ways, making soil one of our planet’s most
dynamic and important natural resources.
Soil is used by people in many ways. Because of this, it has many definitions. An engineer may
view soils as a material upon which infrastructure is built, while a diplomat may refer to “soil” as
a nation’s territory. From a soil scientist’s perspective, soil is:
The surface mineral and/or organic layer of the earth that has experienced some degree of
physical, biological, and chemical weathering.

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Gelisols are soils that are permanently frozen (contain “permafrost”) or contain evidence of
permafrost near the soil surface. Gelisols are found in the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as at
extremely high elevations. Permafrost influences land use through its effect on the downward
movement of water and freeze-thaw activity (cryoturbation) such as frost heaves. Permafrost
can also restrict the rooting depth of plants. Gelisols make up about 9% of the world’s glacier-
free land surface.

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Histosols are mainly composed of organic material in their upper portion. The Histosol order
mostly contains soils commonly called bogs, moors, peatlands, muskegs, fens, or peats and
mucks. These soils form when organic matter, such as leaves, mosses, or grasses, decomposes
more slowly than it accumulates due to a decrease in microbial decay rates. This most often
occurs in extremely wet areas or underwater; thus, most of these soils are saturated year-round.
Histosols can be highly productive farmland when drained; however, draining these soils can
cause them to decompose rapidly and subside dramatically. They are also not stable for
foundations or roadways and may be highly acidic. Histosols make up about 1% of the world’s
glacier-free land surface.

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Spodosols are among the most attractive soils. They often have a dark surface underlain by
an ashy, gray layer, which is subsequently underlain by a reddish, rusty, coffee-colored, or black
subsoil horizon. These soils form as rainfall interacts with acidic vegetative litter, such as the
needles of conifers, to form organic acids. These acids dissolve iron, aluminum, and organic
matter in the topsoil and ashy gray horizons. The dissolved materials then move to the colorful
subsoil horizons. Spodosols most often develop in coarsely textured soils (sands and loamy
sands) under coniferous vegetation in humid regions of the world. They tend to be acidic and
have low fertility and low clay content. Spodosols occupy about 4% of the world’s glacier-free
land surface.

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Andisols typically form from the weathering of volcanic materials such as ash, resulting in
minerals in the soil with poor crystal structure. These minerals have an unusually high capacity
to hold both nutrients and water, making these soils very productive and fertile. Andisols include
weakly weathered soils with much volcanic glass, as well as more strongly weathered soils. They
typically occur in areas with moderate to high rainfall and cool temperatures. They also tend to
be highly erodible when on slopes. These soils make up about 1% of the glacier-free land
surface.

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Oxisols are soils of tropical and subtropical regions, which are dominated by iron oxides,
quartz, and highly weathered clay minerals such as kaolinite. These soils are typically found on
gently sloping land surfaces of great age that have been stable for a long time. For the most
part, they are nearly featureless soils without clearly marked layers, or horizons. Because they
are highly weathered, they have low natural fertility, but can be made productive through wise
use of fertilizers and lime. Oxisols are found over about 8% of the glacier-free land surface.

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Vertisols are clay-rich soils that contain a type of “expansive” clay that shrinks and swells
dramatically. These soils therefore shrink as they dry and swell when they become wet. When
dry, vertisols form large cracks that may be more than one meter (three feet) deep and several
centimeters, or inches, wide. The movement of these soils can crack building foundations and
buckle roads. Vertisols are highly fertile due to their high clay content; however, water tends to
pool on their surfaces when they become wet. Vertisols are located in areas where the
underlying parent materials allow for the formation of expansive clay minerals. They occupy
about 2% of the glacier-free land surface.

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Aridisols are soils that occur in climates that are too dry for “mesophytic” plants—plants
adapted to neither a too wet nor too dry environments—to survive. The climate in which
Aridisols occur also restricts soil weathering processes. Aridisols often contain accumulations of
salt, gypsum, or carbonates, and are found in hot and cold deserts worldwide. They occupy
about 12% of the Earth’s glacier-free land area, including some of the dry valleys of Antarctica.

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Ultisols are soils that have formed in humid areas and are intensely weathered. They typically
contain a subsoil horizon that has an appreciable amount of translocated clay, and are relatively
acidic. Most nutrients are held in the upper centimeters of Ultisol soils, and these soils are
generally of low fertility although they can become productive with additions of fertilizer and
lime. Ultisols make up about 8% of the glacier-free land surface.

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Mollisols are prairie or grassland soils that have a dark-colored surface horizon. They are
highly fertile and rich in chemical “bases” such as calcium and magnesium. The dark surface
horizon comes from the yearly addition of organic matter to the soil from the deep roots of
prairie plants. Mollisols are often found in climates with pronounced dry seasons. They make up
approximately 7% of the glacier-free land surface.

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Alfisols are similar to Ultisols but are less intensively weathered and less acidic. They tend to
be more inherently fertile than Ultisols and are located in similar climatic regions, typically
under forest vegetation. They are also more common than Ultisols, occupying about 10% of the
glacier-free land surface.

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Inceptisols exhibit a moderate degree of soil development and lack significant clay
accumulation in the subsoil. They occur over a wide range of parent materials and climatic
conditions, and thus have a wide range of characteristics. They are extensive, occupying
approximately 17% of the earth’s glacier-free surface.

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Entisols are the last order in soil taxonomy and exhibit little to no soil development other
than the presence of an identifiable topsoil horizon. These soils occur in areas of recently
deposited sediments, often in places where deposition is faster than the rate of soil
development. Some typical landforms where Entisols are located include: active flood plains,
dunes, landslide areas, and behind retreating glaciers. They are common in all environments.
Entisols make up the second largest group of soils after Inceptisols, occupying about 16% of the
Earth’s surface.

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1. Sand
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 large, relatively stable sand-particle size increases soil aeration,
improves drainage in tight soils and creates plant-growth supporting qualities, or tilt.

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The particle size of course sand ranges from 2 – 4.75mm, Medium sand ranges from 0.425 – 2
mm and fine sand ranges from 0.075 – 0.425 mm. 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. The particle shape is
angular, sub angular, rounded, flat or elongated. The texture is rough, smooth, or polished.

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2. Silt
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. The particle size of silt ranges from 0.002
and 0.06 mm. Silt is a non-plastic or low plasticity material due to its fineness. 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.

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3. Clay
Clay particles are the finest of all the soil particles, measuring fewer than 0.002 mm in size. It
consists of microscopic and sub-microscopic particles derived from the chemical decomposition
of rocks. Clay is a fine grained cohesive soil. They stick together readily and form a sticky or
gluey texture when they are wet or dry.

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Clay is made of over 25 percent clay, and because of 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. Organic clay is highly compressible and its strength is very high
when dry, which is why it is used in construction as mud mortar.

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4. Loam
Loam is a mixture of clay, sand and silt and benefits from the qualities of these 3 different
textures, favouring water retention, air circulation, drainage and fertility. 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. The way the other particles combine in the soil makes the
loam. For instance, a soil that is 30 per cent clay, 50 per cent sand and 20 per cent silt is a sandy
clay loam, with the soil types before “loam” listed in the order their particles are most dominant
in the loam. The labels “clay loam,” “silt loam” and “sand loam” are used to refer to soils that are
composed predominantly of those ingredients.

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