PHYSICAL

PROPERTIES OF
SOILS
Ms.  Rochelle  Joie  A.  Saracanlao  
IMPORTANT SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
1. Soil Texture
2. Soil Structure
3. Soil Densities (Bulk and Particle density)
4. Soil Porosity (total, macro and micro-porosities)
5. Soil Consistency
6. Soil Color
7. Soil Water
SOIL  TEXTURE  
 SOIL TEXTURE
• a stable property
• soil- composed of primary (individual or discrete) particles which
forms the skeletal framework of soil mass

• “texture” - refers to the sensation when one rubs the material with
the fingers
• Soil may be soft, coarse, smooth, powdery or sticky depending on the
dominant particle size
 SOIL TEXTURE
§ Could be quantitatively determined in the field by “feel method”

§ Feel method
§ done by rubbing a moist soil between fingers
§ concerns in the primary (individual) particles which vary in size,
shape and composition
 Soil Diameter range (mm) Characteristic and Feel
Separate
USDA ISS
SAND 2- 0.05 2- 0.02 Coarse, gritty, mostly primary minerals (quartz
and feldspars), cubic to spherical in shape

SILT 0.05- 0.002 0.02- 0.002 Smooth, powdery, mostly primary minerals
(quartz and feldspars), cubic to spherical in
shape
CLAY < 0.002 <0.002 Sticky and plastic when moist, mostly
secondary “clay” minerals very high specific
surface area hence the most reactive
component of the soil , plate like or flake like
and tubular in shape
 §
§ Two methods of quantitative determination of soil texture

1. Hydrometer method
2. Pipette method
- both method employs Stroke’s Law of Sedimentation

V=kd2
V= velocity
d= diameter of primary particle
k= constant
 
 SAND LOAMS CLAY

Lower total porosity (more macro- High total porosity (more micro-
pores) pores)
Low water holding capacity High water holding capacity
(droughty)
Very good aeration Poor aeration and drainage
Easy to till (light soil) Difficult to till (heavy soil)

Non-sticky and non-plastic Very sticky and plastic

Low nutrient holding capacity (less High nutrient holding capacity
fertile) (more fertile)
TEXTURAL  GROUP   TEXTURAL  CLASS  
1. SANDS   1.  Sand  (S)  
2.  Loamy  Sand  (LS)  
2.  LOAMS   3.  Sandy  Loam  (SL)  
4.  Loam  (L)  
5.  Silt  Loam  (SiL)  
6.  Silt  (Si)  
7.  Sandy  Clay  Loam  (SCL)  
8.  Silty  Clay  Loam  (SiCL)  
9.  Clay  Loam  (CL)  
3.  CLAYS   10.  Sandy  Clay  (SC)  
11.  Silty  Clay  (SiC)  
12.  Clay  (C)  
SIGNIFICANCE OF SOIL TEXTURE

§  affects water retention and permeability, movement

(infiltration, percolation, drainability)
§ crop suitability
§ indicate native fertility of soil (clayey soils are generally
more fertile, sandy soils are usually K-deficient)
§ affects aeration (sandy soils are more porous)
SOIL  TEXTURE  
 SOIL STRUCTURE

§ The pattern or arrangement of individual soil particles into

aggregate and the aggregate into soil mass
§ arrangement of soil particles into certain sizes and shapes
§ effects of soil properties
§ Aeration
§ Bulk density
§ Water movement (heat transfer)
 SOIL STRUCTURE

§  unstable property
§ deteriorates with poor soil and crop management
§ sustainable soil management depends on how to manage good
soil structure
§ influence water transport, air transport and mechanical
impedance to seedling emergence and root growth
 KINDS OF SOIL STRUCTURE
§ Granular
- Resembles cookie crumbs, usually less than 0.5 cm in dm.
- Commonly found in surface horizons where roots have been
growing
§ Blocky
- Cube like, edges are sharp and rectangular faces are distinct,
some are more or less rounded
- common in clayey subsoils particularly in humid regions
- has considered effect on drainage aeration and root penetration
§ Prismatic
- Vertical columns of soil that might be a number of cm long
- usually found in lower horizons

§ Columnar
- Vertical columns of soil that have a salt “cap” at the the top
- found in soils of arid climates

§ Platy
- thin, flat plates of soil that lie horizontally
- usually found in compacted soil

§ Single Grained

- soil is broken into individual particles that do not stick together

- always accompanies a loose consistence, found in sandy soils
 FORMATION OF SOIL STRUCTURE
§ Organic matter
- binding agent
§ products of microbial decomposition (gums, polysaccharides)
§ Adsorbed cations
§ Na: causes dispersion
§ Ca: encourages flocculation
§ Fine clay (including sesquioxides)
§  Aggregate
stability
- OM is mainly responsible
Soils with high kaolinite and hydrous oxides have high stability
(e.g. Luisiana)
Mechanisms of Na and Ca affects (dispersion and flocculation)

§ Soil management related to soil structure

q OM for sandy soils
- Sandy soils have good aeration and drainage but easily become
dry or droughty
- OM increases WHC
§ Soil management related to soil structure

§ Proper tillage of clay soil

- If plowed when too wet, the soil losses structure and become
puddle

§ Cropping system
- Continuous corn- less water aggregates
- corn in rotation and grass cover – larger aggregates

§ Mulching – protects structure from rain

Poor  Soil  Structure   Good  Soil  
Massive  or  compacted  soil   Well-­‐aggregated  crumbs  
Dominantly  micro-­‐pores   Balanced  macro  and  micro-­‐pores  
Poor  drainage   Micro-­‐pores  for  water  storage  
Poor  aeraPon   Macro-­‐pores  for  drainage,  
aeraPon  and  root  growth  
Poor  root  growth   Easier  to  Pll  
Hard  to  Pll   High  total  porosity  
Low  porosity   Low  bulk  density  
High  bulk  density  
BULK  DENSITY  
 BULK DENSITY
§ Bulk density (BD) of the soil is the oven dry weight per unit volume of
soil
§ a measure of the degree of compaction of the soil
§ an indicator of the soil porosity
§ an indicator of soil structure
§ the more compact the soil, the greater is the bulk density value and less
porous it is
§ lower values of BD is associated with higher porosity and good soil
structure
 BULK DENSITY FORMULA

BD= Ws/Vt
Where:
BD: bulk density in gm/cm3
Ws: oven-dried weight of soil in gm
Vt: total volume of soil in cm3
 BULK DENSITY
§  it  is  affected  by  soil  texture,  structure,  organic  maXer  content  and  
locaPon  in  the  profile    

§ Sandy  soils  have  higher  BD  because  the  parPcles  tend  to  lie  closer  
together  
§  Fine  textured  soils  are  generally  well  aggregated  and  hence  have  
large  pores  between  granules  or  aggregates  giving  lower  BD  values  
§  soils  in  the    deeper  horizons  have  higher  BD  due  to  their  lower  
organic  maXer  content,  less  aggregate,  less  root  penetraPon,  and  
greater  compacPon  due  to  the  weight  of  the  overlying  layers.  
PARTICLE  DENSITY  
 PARTICLE DENSITY
§ Particle density (PD) of soil is the mass (dry weight) per unit
volume of soil excluding the pore spaces within that soil volume

§ It indicates the mineral ancestry of soil

§ 2.65 g/cm3 is the average particle density
§ High PD (>2.70 g/cm3) soil derived from heavy minerals like
iron bearing minerals
§ Low PD (< 2.50 g/cm3 ) soil is high in humus
 PARTICLE DENSITY FORMULA

PD= Ws/Vs
Where:
PD - particle density in g/cm3
Ws - oven dried weight of soil in gm
Vs - volume of soil solids in cm3
 PARTICLE DENSITY
§ Soils derived from heavy minerals may have PD values exceeding
2.75 g/cm3

§ Soils with high OM has low PD

§ The PD of organic matter is 1.20 to 1.50 g/cm3
§ OM is generally higher in topsoils than sub-soils, surface soils
have usually lower particle density
SOIL  POROSITY  
 SOIL POROSITY
§  It is the bulk density and particle density relationships
§ The higher the bulk density of soils, the lower is its  porosity
§ Percent porosity equation:

§ %PS= [1-BD/PD] x100

SOIL  COLOR  
(*show  Munsell  Color  Chart)  
 SOIL COLOR

§ Significance:
§ Indirect measure or indication of other properties
§ One of the most important soil characteristics for identification,
especially if combined with structure
 SOIL COLOR

§ Munsell Color Chart

§ standard color comparison chart

§ Hue – dominant spectral color

§ Value – darkness or lightness of a color
§ Chroma – gradation of purity of color or the intensity of a
color
 SOIL COLOR
§ It indicates some chemical conditions:
§ Dark or black color indicates high OM
§ Reddish brown color indicates that the soil is high in oxides of
iron
§ Yellowish brown color indicates that the portion of lowland soil
is at oxidized state
§ Moist soil is darker than dry soil
§ Paddy soil is bluish indicating that it is at reduced state
SOIL  WATER  
 SOIL WATER
§ Soil water = Soil moisture = Soil solution
§ Importance:
§ Large amount of water is required by plants for transpiration
§ Water is a reactant in photosynthesis, hydrolysis, hydration
§ It is a universal solvent
§ It facilitates tillage operation acting as lubricant which makes
plowing easy
 SOIL WATER
§ Water management is the control of water for optimum crop yield
and the best use of a limited supply of water

§ Basic strategies :
§ Conservation of rainfall
§ Addition of irrigation to supplement RF
§ Removal of excess (drainage)
 SOIL WATER
§ Considerations:
1. Soil infiltrations
- nature of pores and water contents of soil are major
determinants
2. Tillage
- gives a rough soil surface which controls runoff
- also loosens soil and increases total porosity and thickness of
plow layer for greater water shortage
 SOIL  WATER  

3. Residue mulches
- placed before the end of rainy season
- mulch conserves at water by controlling runoff,
increasing infiltration, reducing weed growth and
decreasing evaporation
 SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT
§ The amount of water that is present in the soil

§ Three ways of expressing moisture content

§ 1. Gravimetric moisture content or Moisture content by weight or
mass basis
§ 2. Volumetric moisture content
§ 3. Soil Water Depth
 SOIL  MOISTURE  CALCULATION  
1. Gravimetric Moisture Content (%θm)  

%θm = [(FW - ODW)/ ODW] x 100

Where:
FW – weight of moist soil
ODW – oven dry weight
 SOIL MOISTURE CALCULATION

2. Volumetric Moisture Content (%θv)

%θv= (Vw/Vs) x (cm3 H2O/ cm3 soil)

Where:
Vw – volume of water
Vs – volume of soil
 SOIL MOISTURE CONTENT CALCULATION

3. Soil Water Depth (Hw)

Hw = θv  x  Ht  
Where:  
Ht  –  total  depth  of  soil
 SOIL MOISTURE TENSION (SMT)

§ A measure of the energy state of water in the soil

§ Soil moisture that surrounds soil particles is held at varying
degrees of tenacity or energy. The farther away the moisture
film from the surface of the soil particle, the weaker is the
energy of attraction between soil and water
§ It is the energy of state of water in the soil
§ commonly used unit is BAR
 SOIL  MOISTURE  COEFFICIENTS  

1. Saturation (SAT)
- Moisture content when pore spaces are fully filled-up
with water
- SMT = 0 BAR (the water in the soil is loosely held by
the particles and it easily drips with the action of
gravity)
 SOIL MOISTURE COEFFICIENTS

2. Field Capacity (FC)

- Moisture content of a previously saturated soil allowed to
drain until downward movement is practically zero
- It is the upper limit of available water
- SMT = 1/3 BAR
 SOIL MOISTURE COEFFICIENT

3. Permanent Wilting Coefficient (PWC)

- The moisture content when turgid plants begin to wilt
permanently
- Permanent wilting point (PWP) is the lower limit of
available water
- SMT = 15 BARS
 SOIL MOISTURE COEFFICIENT

4. Hydroscopic Coefficient (HC)

- Air dry soil moisture content which is highly dependent
on the relative humidity of the atmosphere
- Water is held at very energy that is not available for plant
use
- SMT = >31 BARS
 SOIL MOISTURE COEFFICIENT

5. Oven Dry (OD)

- Oven drying condition involves putting the moist soil in
an oven at 105-110⁰C  for  24  hours
 IMPORTANT  SOIL  MOISTURE  CALCULATION  

1. Gravitational Water (GW)

- computed by getting the difference between moisture
content of soil at SAT and at FC (1/3 BAR SMT)

2. Available Water Capacity (AWC)

- computed by getting the difference between moisture
content of soil at FC (1/3 BAR SMT) and at PWP (15 BARS
SMT)
 IMPORTANT  SOIL  MOISTURE  CALCULATION  

1. Gravitational Water (GW)

GW= Sat – Fc
Where:
Sat – saturated moisture content
Fc – field capacity
 IMPORTANT  SOIL  MOISTURE  CALCULATION  

2. Available Water Capacity (AWC)

AWC = FC – PWP
Where:
FC – field capacity
PWP – permanent wilting point
SOIL  CONSISTENCY  
 SOIL CONSISTENCY

§ the manner in which forces of cohesion and adhesion are

manifested in soils at various soil moisture content
§ a soil behaves differently at different soil moisture content
§ hard when dry
§ friable when moist
§ sticky and plastic when wet
§ viscous (flows like liquid) when super saturated
 SOIL CONSISTENCY

§ physical state of the soil at various moisture levels when

subjected to mechanical state
§ affected by OM, texture and nature of clay
 SOIL CONSISTENCY DESCRIPTION

§ 1. Dry Consistency
- Sandy soil have less loose consistence and crumble easily
- Clayey soils are hard

2. Most Consistency (Friable)

- Clayey soils have narrow moisture range for tillage
- below the range they are too hard and above the range they
become too puddle
 SOIL CONSISTENCY DESCRIPTION

2. Most Consistency (Friable)

- medium texture soils have wider moisture range for tillage

3. Wet Consistency
- Plasticity or stickiness
- Plasticity is the ability to be molded
- Sandy soils are non-plastic and non-sticky when wet
END  OF  UNIT  II  
(SOIL  
PROPERTIES)