Program: M.Sc.

(Ag), Semester 2, Year 1

SOILS-501: Soil Physics

Unit No. I

Scope of soil physics and its relation with other

branches of soil science; soil as a three phase
system.
Lecture No. 1
Dr. Nivedita Singh
Assistant professor, SOAG
Outlines

• Soil

• Soil Physics

• Soil physics and its relation with other branches of

soil science
• Three phase system of soil
• Partially saturated
• Dry system
• Wet System
Soil
➢Soil is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids,
and organisms that together support life.
➢Soils serve as media for growth of all kinds of plants.
➢Soils modify the atmosphere by emitting and absorbing gases (carbon
dioxide, methane, water vapor, and the like) and dust.
➢Soils provide habitat for animals that live in the soil (such as groundhogs
and mice) to organisms (such as bacteria and fungi), that account for most
of the living things on Earth.
➢Soils absorb, hold, release, alter, and purify most of the water in
terrestrial systems.
➢Soils process recycled nutrients, including carbon, so that living things can

use them over and over again.

➢Soils serve as engineering media for construction of foundations, roadbeds,

dams and buildings, and preserve or destroy artifacts of human endeavors.

➢ Soils act as a living filter to clean water before it moves into an aquifer.
What is soil physics
➢ Soil physics is the study of soil's physical properties and processes.
It is applied to management and prediction under natural and
managed ecosystems.
➢ Soil physics deals with the dynamics of physical soil components
and their phases as solid, liquids, and gases.
➢ It draws on the principles of physics, physical
chemistry, engineering, and meteorology.
➢ Soil physics applies these principles to address practical problems
of agriculture, ecology, and engineering
soil physics and its relation with other branches of soil science

➢Soil science is the study of soil as a natural resource on the surface of

the Earth including soil formation, classification and mapping; physical,
chemical, biological, and fertility properties of soils; and these properties
in relation to the use and management of soils.
➢Sometimes terms which refer to branches of soil science, such
as pedology (formation, chemistry, morphology, and classification of soil)
and
➢Edaphology (how soils interact with living things, especially plants), are used
as if synonymous with soil science.
➢Soil occupies the pedosphere, one of Earth's spheres that the geosciences use
to organize the Earth conceptually. This is the conceptual perspective
of pedology and edaphology, the two main branches of soil science.
➢Pedology is the study of soil in its natural setting.
➢Edaphology is the study of soil in relation to soil-dependent uses.
➢Both branches apply a combination of soil physics, soil chemistry, and soil
biology.
Three phase system of soil
Partially saturated
Dry system
Wet System
Cont.
Cont.
Cont.
References
http://ecoursesonline.iasri.res.in/mod/page/view.php?id=125124

http://www.alphace.ac.in/downloads/notes/cv/15cv53.pdf