SOIL SCIENCE AND IRRIGATION ENGINEERING

COURSE CODE: CEC 208

LECTURE NOTE 1

INTRODUCTION

SOIL: the life supporting skin of the earth.

Soil can be defined as the solid material on the Earth’s surface made up of a mixture of mineral and

organic materials, water and air formed as a result of the interaction of weathering and biological

activity on the parent material or underlying hard rock.

Parent material: This is the material from which the soil has developed and can vary from solid

rock to deposits like alluvium and boulder clay. It has been defined as ‘the initial state of the soil

system.

FORMATION OF SOIL

Soil formation is an extremely slow process. Soil is an end product of the influence of climate,

relief and living organisms on parent material. The breaking up of rocks is called weathering.

WEATHERING

This refers to the breakdown and decomposition of rocks and minerals by factors including air,

water, sun and frost. Weathering makes pieces of rocks smaller and smaller. There are two types of

weathering, physical and chemical weathering:

Physical weathering involves continual breakdown of rocks into smaller and smaller particles.

Chemical weathering involves alteration of the chemical composition of rock minerals due to the

action of rain, moving water etc.

CAUSES OF WEATHERING

Ice: Most physical weathering is caused by ice. Ice is frost water, and water expands when it

freezes. Freezing water makes a powerful force. When water seeps into cracks in rocks and freezes,

it can split the rock apart;

Strong winds: winds on high velocity may carry some objects along; these materials could cause

disintegration as they hit rocks with great force.

Growing tree roots: can also break up rocks (usually sedimentary rocks).

Water: water is the major cause of chemical weathering. Rain pours down on rocks, rivers flow

over rocks, and waves pound rocks along beaches. The water takes certain minerals out of rocks.

For example, grains of sand form after water takes mineral called feldspar out of granite rock.

Erosion: Erosion can help break up rocks resulting in soil formation. Water, wind and glaciers

cause erosion.

FUNCTIONS OF SOIL

1. Soil is the life supporting layer of the earth. It serves as a habitat for living organism and is

made up of other organic matter which suitably transform nutrients for up take by plant roots

2. Soil provides anchorage to roots enabling plants to stand erect.

3. It acts as a means for storage, supply and purification of water.

4. It provides space for air and aeration which create a healthy environment for the biological

activity of soil organisms.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SOIL AND ROCK

Although soils are mainly formed from rocks, they differ from rocks in three main ways.

1. Unlike rocks, soil are made up mostly of secondary minerals which are formed from the

products of the weathering of primary rock minerals

2. Unlike rocks, soils contain active organic matter in the form of humus, plant roots and tiny

plants and animals called micro-organisms i.e. soil supports life.

 3. Unlike rocks, soils are distributed in regular fashion over the earth’s surface in accord with

the variations in climate, rocks, vegetation and relief.

COMPONENTS OF SOIL

Soil consists of two main components; solid materials and pore spaces. The solid materials

include mineral matter and organic matter, Pore spaces are either:

 Macro (large) pores filled by air or

 Micro (small) pores filled by water.

Thus the soil is made up of four main constituents

(a) Mineral matter: The mineral matter consists of all solid in organic material in the soil and they
include:-
i. Rock fragments which are partially disintegrated remnants of the original rock material
from which the soil is formed.
ii. Sand
iii. Silt
iv. Clay
(b) Organic matter: this is decayed plants and animal debris.

(c) Water and

(d) Air

Figure 1.1: Components of Soil

 SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Soil is comprised of minerals, soil organic matter, water, and air. The composition and proportion

of these components greatly influence soil physical properties, including texture, structure, and

porosity, the fraction of pore space in a soil. In turn, these properties affect air and water

movement in the soil, and thus the soil’s ability to function.

The soil texture and structure are also important for plant growth as they are the percentage of sand,

silt and clay in the soil and the manner in which these particles are arranged to form voids and soil

colloids. If these are in correct proportions optimum plant growth will occur.

SOIL TEXTURE

Soil texture can have a profound effect on many other properties and is considered among the most

important physical properties. Texture is the proportion of three mineral particles, sand, silt and

clay, in a soil.

The relative amount of various particle sizes in a soil defines its texture, i.e., whether it is a clay,

loam, sandy loam or other textural category. Texture is designated by using the names of

predominant size fraction and the word “loam” whenever all three major size fractions occur in

sizable proportions. Thus the term “silty clay describes a soil in which the clay characteristics are

outstanding and which also contains a substantial quantity of silt. A silty clay loam is similar to

silty clay except that it contains sand in a sizable proportion sandy.

Texture is the result of ‘weathering,’ the physical and chemical breakdown of rocks and minerals.

Because of differences in composition and structure, materials will weather at different rates,

affecting a soil’s texture. For example, shale, an easily weathered rock, forms clay-rich soils,

whereas granite, a slow weathering rock, usually forms sandy, coarse soils. Since weathering is a

relatively slow process, texture remains fairly constant and is not altered by management practices.
Figure 3: soil textural triangle. The percent (by weight) of the sand, silt and clay fraction

determines the texture of the soil. The dotted line depicts a loam soil that has 45 percent sand, 35

percent silt and 20 percent clay content

SOIL STRUCTURE

Soil structure is the arrangement and binding together of soil particles into larger clusters, called aggregates

or ‘peds.’ Aggregation is important for increasing stability against erosion, for maintaining porosity and soil

water movement, and for improving fertility and carbon sequestration in the soil. The shape and size of

the peds determine the soil structure.

The structure modifies the influence of texture with regard to water and air relationships and the

ease of root penetration. The macroscopic size of most peds results in the existence of inter ped

pace that much larger than the spaces existing between adjacent sand, silt, and day particles.
Grouping of particles into structural units occurs in all soils. However, the strength of the bond, the

size and shape of the structural units and the proportion of the soil particles involved in the unit

differ considerably among soils.

SOIL CONSISTENCE

Consistence is the resistance of the soil to deformation or rupture. It is determined by the cohesive

and adhesive properties of the entire soil mass. Whereas structure deals with the shape, size and

distinctiveness of natural soil aggregate, consistence deals with the strength and nature of the

forces. Consistence is important for tillage and compaction considerations.

Soil Consistence Terms

Consistence is described for three moisture levels wet, moist, and dry. A given soil may be sticky

when wet, firm when moist, and hard when dry. A partial list of term used to describe consistence

include:-

1. Wet soil

2. Moist soil

3. Dry soil

Plastic soil is capable of being molded or deformed continuously and permanently, by relatively

moderate pressure, into various shapes when wet.

Friable soil readily breaks apart and is not sticky when moist.

SOIL COLOUR

Colour is about the most obvious and easily determined soil property. Soil colour is important

because it is an indirect measure of other important characteristics such as water drainage and the

organic matter content. Thus colour is used with other characteristics to make many important

references regarding soil formation and land use.

Generally soil colour is determined by the amount of organic matter and the iron content. Soil

colour is also related to soil drainage, with free draining; well aerated soils (with pore space

dominated by oxygen) have rich brown colours.

In contrast, poorly draining soils develop under anaerobic conditions (the pore space dominated by

water) and have grey or blue-grey colours.

VOLUME AND MASS RELATIONSHIP OF SOIL CONTITUENTS

The constituent of the oil are the solids, liquids (water) and air. The diagram below show the

volume and mass relationships of the three soil phases.

Volume relative Mass relative

Ma= Mass of air (negligible)

Va Air Ma Mw=Mass of water
ma Ms=Mass of solid
Mt=Total mass
Vw Mw (Ma+Mw+Ms) Va=Volume
Vt mt of air Vw=volume of water
Water
Vs=Volume of solids

Vs mw Vt=Total volume (Vf+Vs)

Ms
m
Solids
 Note:Mass-Volume Relationship terms to be explained in class

Question 1:- A 500 cm3 oven dry core has a bulk density of 1.1g/ cm3. The soil core is placed in

a pan of water and becomes water saturated. The oven dry soil and water at saturation weight

825 grams. Calculate the total soil porosity.

Questions 2: A sample of soil weighing 30.6kg had a volume of 0.0183m3, when dried out in an

oven its weight was reduced to 27.2kg. The specific gravity of the solids was found to be 2.65.

Determine the dry density, wet density, percentage of moisture cont. and The Saturated density.

(Solutions to be taken in class)