= Essential

Soil Notes

SOIL:
● Formation
● Properties
● Horizons
● Erosion
John Osborne
October 2023
 WHAT IS SOIL?

Soil – relatively thin surface layer of

the Earth’s continental crust
consisting of mineral and organic
matter that is affected by agents such
as weather, wind, water, and
organisms.

John Osborne
October 2023
 WHAT IS THE COMPOSITION OF SOIL?

Mineral particles (45% of “typical”

soil)
Organic matter (about 5%)
Water (about 25%)
Air (about 25%)

John Osborne
October 2023
 Think about it!

If a ‘normal’ soil contains 5%

organic material, which soils do
you think would contain the most
organic material? Why?
1. Tropical rain forest soils
2. Grassland soils
3. Temperate, deciduous forest
soils
4. Pine forest soils
John Osborne
October 2023
 WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF SOIL?

Organisms, mainly microorganisms, inhabit the

soil & depend on it for shelter, food & water.
Essential for healthy plant growth. Plants
anchor themselves into the soil and get their
nutrients and water from soil.
Essential for water filtration.
Healthy soil supports a landscape that is more
resilient to the impacts of drought, flood, or fire.
Soil helps to regulate the Earth's climate.
Soil is a massive store of carbon - more than in
the atmosphere and all plant life combined..
A basis for feed, fuel, fibre and medical products
as well as for many critical ecosystem services.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Think about it!

Soils contain so much carbon!

In what different forms is carbon

stored or found in soil?
Soil carbon can occur as organic and inorganic carbon forms.
Organic carbon includes decaying plant matter, soil organisms and microbes, and
carbon compounds such as sugars, starches, proteins, carbohydrates, lignins, waxes,
resins and organic acids.
Inorganic carbon is mineral-based with the most common form being calcium
carbonate.

John Osborne
October 2023
 SOIL: A RENEWABLE RESOURCE

Soil is a slowly renewed resource that provides

most of the nutrients needed for plant growth
and also helps purify water.
Soil formation begins when bedrock is broken
down by physical, chemical and biological
processes called weathering.
Mature soils, or soils that have developed
over a long time are arranged in a series of
horizontal layers called soil horizons.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Formation
PARENT MATERIAL

The parent rock is slowly broken down

into smaller particles by biological,
chemical, and physical weathering.
To form 2.5 cm soil it may take from
200-1000 years.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Formation
PHYSICAL WEATHERING

Ex. erosion (wind, water, ice,

etc.)

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Formation
CHEMICAL WEATHERING

A plant’s roots or animal cells undergo

cell respiration and the CO2 produced
diffuses into soil, reacts with H2O &
forms carbonic acid (H2CO3). This eats
parts of the rock away.

CO2 + H2O H2CO3

John Osborne
October 2023
 Think about it!
Some chemistry!
This seems simple enough:
CO2 + H2O H2CO3
But what happens next is the
crucial part. H2CO3 dissociates in
water
H2CO3 H+ + HCO3-
H+ What is this? What does
this mean for the water?
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Formation
RENEWABLE OR NOT?
Decomposition produces new soil
But, in the tropical rainforests, all of
the nutrients are caught in the trees
and when cut down and burned the
soil cannot get the nutrients back.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Properties
TEXTURE
The percentages (by weight) of
different sized particles of
sand, silt and
clay that it contains.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Properties
TEXTURE
>2mm in diameter = gravel/stones (not
actually considered soil because it doesn’t
have direct value to plants.
0.05 to 2mm = sand (the largest soil
particles) can be seen easily with the eye.
0.002 to 0.05mm = silt – about the size of
flour and barely visible with the eye.
<.002mm = clay (has the greatest surface
value) – only seen under electronic
microscope.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Properties
TEXTURE

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Properties
TEXTURE
To tell the difference in soil, take the soil,
moisten it, and rub it between your
fingers and thumb.

+ Sand – gritty
+ Clay – sticky and you
should be able to
roll it into a clump
+ Silt - smooth, like flour

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Properties
STRUCTURE

How soil
particles are
organized and
clumped
together.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Properties
FRIABILITY

How easily the soil can be

crumbled.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Properties
POROSITY
A measure of
the volume of
soil and the
average
distances
between the
spaces.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Properties
PERMEABILITY

The rate at which water and air

moves from upper to lower soil
layers. It is distances between
those spaces.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Properties
GENERAL SOIL PROPERTIES

Soils vary in the

size of the
particles they
contain, the
amount of space
between these
particles, and how
rapidly water flows
through them.

John Osborne
October 2023 Figure 3-25
 Soil Properties
SHRINK-SWELL POTENTIAL

Some soils, like

clays, swell when
water gets in
them, then they
dry and crack.
This is bad for
house
foundations, etc.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Properties
PH
The pH of most soils ranges from 4.0 to
8.0.
The soil of the Pygmy Forest in California
is extremely acidic (2.8-3.9) and in Death
Valley, California it is very basic (10.5).
Local extremes.
Plants are affected by pH because of the
solubility of nutrient minerals.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Think about it!

Quito and much of Andean Ecuador

is characterised by volcanic
soils.

What do you think the physical

and chemical properties are of
these volcanic soils? Are they
good for growing?

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil and Slopes
Steep slopes often have little or no soil
on them because of gravity.
Runoff from precipitation tends to
erode the slope also. Moderate slopes
and valleys may encourage the
formation of deep soils.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Depth of Soil
Some soils are very shallow – maybe
only two or three centimetres of soil
and then you hit rock.
Other areas can have soil which is a
metre deep or more.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Colour of Soil
Dark soil is
usually rich with
lots of organic
matter.
Light-coloured
soil (like sand) is
not so rich with
very little
organic matter.
Colour is usually
determined by
the leached
mineral content.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Horizons

John Osborne
October 2023
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Horizons
ORGANIC LAYER (O-HORIZON)

The uppermost layer; it is rich in

organic material.
Plant litter accumulates in the
O-horizon and gradually decays.
In desert soils the O-horizon is
completely absent, but in certain
organically rich soils it may be the
John Osborne
dominant layer.
October 2023
 Think about it!

Back to that first thought

question.

Tropical rain forests such as in

Amazonia contain amazingly dense
vegetation, yet the O Horizon of
the soils is almost non-existent.
Why is this?
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Horizons
TOPSOIL (A-HORIZON)
It is dark and rich
in accumulated
organic matter
and humus.
It has a granular
texture and is
somewhat
nutrient-poor due
to the loss of
many nutrient
minerals to
deeper layers and
by leaching.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Horizons
SUBSOIL (B-HORIZON)

The light-colored subsoil

beneath the A-horizon; it is
often a zone of illuviation
where nutrient minerals
have leached out of the
topsoil and litter
accumulate.
It is typically rich in iron and
aluminum compounds and
clay.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Horizons
PARENT MATERIAL (C-HORIZON)

This contains weathered

pieces of rock and
borders the un-weathered
solid parent material.
Most roots do not go
down this deep and it is
often saturated with
groundwater.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Horizons
BEDROCK – PARENT MATERIAL

+ Soil sits on top of

solid bedrock, from
which it has
probably been
formed.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Think about it!

Why do the trees here in the

Andes mostly have horizontal root
systems and do not have long tap
roots?

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Layers
LAYERS IN MATURE SOILS
Infiltration: the
downward movement
of water through soil.
Leaching: dissolving
of minerals and
organic matter in
upper layers carrying
them to lower layers.
The soil type
determines the
degree of infiltration
and leaching.
John Osborne
October 2023
LAYERS IN MATURE SOILS

Mosaic of
closely
packed
pebbles,
boulders
Weak
humus-mineral Alkaline,
mixture dark,
Dry, brown to and rich
reddish-brown in humus
with variable Clay,
accumulations calcium
of clay, calcium compounds
and carbonate,
Desert Soil and soluble Grassland Soil
John Osborne
(hot, dry climate) salts semiarid climate)
October 2023 Fig. 3-24a, p. 69
LAYERS IN MATURE SOILS

Tropical Rain Forest Soil

(humid, tropical climate)

Acidic
light-colored
humus
Iron and
aluminum
compounds
mixed with
clay

John Osborne
October 2023 Fig. 3-24b, p. 69
LAYERS IN MATURE SOILS

Deciduous Forest Soil

(humid, mild climate)

Forest litter leaf

mold

Humus-mineral
mixture

Light,
grayish-brown, silt
loam

Dark brown
firm clay
John Osborne
October 2023 Fig. 3-24b, p. 69
LAYERS IN MATURE SOILS

Coniferous Forest Soil

(humid, cold climate)

Acid litter
and humus

Light-colored
and acidic

Humus and
iron and
aluminum
compounds

John Osborne
October 2023 Fig. 3-24b, p. 69
 Soil Erosion

6.4 billion tons of soils are eroded from the

U.S. each year; this would fill 320 million
average-sized dump trucks that, if parked
end-to-end, would extend to the moon and
John Osborne
¾ of the way back!
October 2023
 Soil Erosion
DEFINITION

Erosion is the movement of soil

components, especially surface
litter and topsoil, from one place
to another.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Erosion
IMPORTANCE
In undisturbed ecosystems, the roots of
plants help anchor the soil, and usually soil
is not lost faster then it forms.
But, farming, logging, construction,
overgrazing by livestock, off-road vehicles,
deliberate burning of vegetation etc.
destroy plant cover and leave soil
vulnerable to erosion. This destroys in a
few decades what nature took hundreds to
thousands of years to produce.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Erosion
SOIL EROSION AND DEGRADATION

Soil erosion lowers soil fertility and can

overload nearby bodies of water with
eroded sediment.
Sheet erosion: surface water or wind peel off
thin layers of soil.
Rill erosion: fast-flowing little rivulets of
surface water make small channels.
Gully erosion: fast-flowing water join together
to cut wider and deeper ditches or gullies.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Soil Erosion
SOIL EROSION AND DEGRADATION
Soil erosion is the
movement of soil
components,
especially surface
litter and topsoil,
by wind or water.

• Soil erosion increases through activities such as

farming, logging, construction, overgrazing, and
off-road vehicles.
John Osborne
October 2023 Figure 13-9
 Soil Erosion
GLOBAL OUTLOOK: SOIL EROSION

Soil is eroding faster than it is forming

on more than one-third of the world’s
cropland.

John Osborne
October 2023 Figure 13-10
 Soil Erosion
CASE STUDY: SOIL EROSION IN THE
U.S. – SOME HOPEFUL SIGNS
Soil erodes faster than it forms on
most U.S. cropland, but since 1985,
has been cut by about 40%.
1985 Food Security Act (Farm Act):
farmers receive a subsidy for taking
highly erodible land out of production and
replanting it with soil saving plants for
10-15 years.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Water Erosion
Splash – water hits the soil at a severe
angle (based on slope), which can erode
soil.
Sheet – surface water moves down a
slope or across a field in a wide flow and
peels off sheets of soil.
Mass Slippage – (like in California) where
it is very wet and large amounts of soil slip
away in large chunks (mud slides).
Rill – concentrated flow across the
surface of soil. Leaves rivets (micro
John Osborne
October 2023
channels).
 Water Erosion
Gully - rivulets of fast-flowing water join
together and, with each succeeding rain,
cut the channels wider and deeper until
they become ditches or gullies. Gully
erosion usually happens on steep slopes
where all or most vegetation has been
removed.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Wind Erosion
Saltation – one particle hitting
another and being blown
across the surface of the soil.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Wind Erosion
Suspension – airborne soil

John Osborne
October 2023
 Wind Erosion

John Osborne
October 2023
 Desertification

About one-third of the world’s land has lost

some of its productivity because of drought
and human activities that reduce or degrade
topsoil.
John Osborne
October 2023
Salinization &
Waterlogging
Repeated irrigation
can reduce crop
yields by causing salt
buildup in the soil and
waterlogging of crop
plants.
 Salinization & Waterlogging
A DOWNSIDE OF IRRIGATION

Example of high
evaporation,
poor drainage,
and severe
salinization.
White alkaline
salts have
displaced cops.

John Osborne
October 2023 Figure 13-14
 Solutions

Soil Salinization

Prevention Cleanup

Reduce irrigation Flush soil

(expensive and
wastes water)

Stop growing crops

for 2–5 years

Switch to Install underground

salt-tolerant drainage systems
crops (such as (expensive)
barley, cotton,
sugarbeet)
John Osborne
October 2023
 Erosion control
Shelterbelts – can reduce wind
erosion. Long rows of trees are
planted to partially block the wind.
They can also help retain soil
moisture, supply some wood for fuel,
and provide habitats for birds.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Erosion control
Minimum Tillage – (conservation
tillage). Disturb the soil as little as
possible while planting crops.

Special tillers break up and loosen the

subsurface soil without turning over
the topsoil, previous crop residues,
and any cover vegetation.
John Osborne
October 2023
 Erosion control
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE THROUGH
SOIL CONSERVATION
Modern farm machinery can plant crops
without disturbing soil (no-till and
minimum tillage.
Conservation-tillage farming:
Increases crop yield.
Raises soil carbon content.
Lowers water use.
Lowers pesticides.
Uses less tractor fuel.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Erosion control
Contour Farming –sloping your growing
crops, etc.
Run terraces parallel to the ground to stop
soil from running down a steep slope.
Plowing and planting crops in rows across,
rather than up and down, the sloped
contour of the land.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Erosion control
Terracing – (what you use for contour farming.)
Dirt goes up to hold the dirt in place. Broad, nearly
level terraces that run across the land contour.
Helps to retain water for crops at each level and
reduce soil erosion by controlling runoff.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Erosion control
Strip Cropping – a row crop such as corn
alternates in strips with another crop that
completely covers the soil, reducing
erosion. It catches and reduces water
runoff and helps prevent the spread of
pests and plant diseases.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Erosion control
Cover Cropping (alley cropping) – several crops
are planted together in strips or alleys between trees
and shrubs that can provide shade (which reduces
water loss by evaporation) and helps to retain and
slowly release soil moisture.

John Osborne
October 2023
 Erosion control
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
THROUGH SOIL CONSERVATION

Terracing, contour
planting, strip
cropping, alley
cropping, and
windbreaks can
reduce soil
erosion.
John Osborne
October 2023