SOIL CHARACTERISTICS (PHYSICAL)

Soil Texture
AND OTHER SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SOIL BULK DENSITY, PARTICLE DENSITY, SOIL
POROSITY AND SOIL COLOR & OTHER PHYS.
PROPERTIES

•Soil structure
•Soil particle density

•Soil bulk density

•Soil porosity

•Soil color

•Soil consistency

•Soil temperature

•Soil aeration
 SOIL STRUCTURE
Soil structure is defined by the way individual particles of sand, silt, and clay are
assembled. Single particles when assembled appear as larger particles. These
are called aggregates. And aggregates may jointed to each other to form peds .
Soil structure
Structure

Relates to the arrangement of primary soil particles into

groupings called aggregates or ped.
The patterns of pores and peds defined by soil structure.
Soil structure influences:
• Water movement.

• Heat transfer.

• Aeration

• porosity
Soil structure and movement of water
SOIL STRUCTURE
•Many types of soil structural peds occur in soil.
•The structure characterized by different types of

horizon of a particular soil profile.

• There are four principle shapes of soil structure;

namely:
•Spheroidal
•Platy
•Prismlike
•blocklike
Soil Structure

Shape
Spheroidal

Characteristic of surface (A) horizons. Subject to wide and rapid

change – size less than 1 mm up to 10mm in diameter.

Consist of two types:

• Granular – rounded surface
• Crumb (very porous)- rounded surface but larger that
granular.
 Granular and crumb structures are individual particles of sand,
silt and clay grouped together in small, nearly spherical grains.
Water circulates very easily through such soils. They are
commonly found in the A-horizon of the soil profile
Granular
structure in B
horizon
Crumb structure
in A horizon
SOIL STRUCTURE

Shape

Platelike-platy : rectangular with along horizontal

dimension.
Common in E horizons, may occur in any part of the
profile. Often inherited from parent material of soil, or
caused by compaction.
Platy structure is made up of soil particles aggregated in thin plates or
sheets piled horizontally on one another. Plates often overlap, greatly
impairing water circulation. It is commonly found in forest soils, in part of
the A- horizon, and in claypan* soils
SOIL STRUCTURE
Shape

Blocklike
Common in B horizons. Particularly in humid regions.
May occur in A horizons. Size range from 5 to 50 mm
across.

Thre are two types:

•Angular blocky

•Subangular blocky
Subangular blocky
structure in a B-
horizon.
Blocky and subangular blocky structures are soil particles that
cling together in nearly square or angular blocks having more or
less sharp edges. Relatively large blocks indicate that the soil
resists penetration and movement of water. They are commonly
found in the B-horizon where clay has accumulated
SOIL STRUCTURE
Shape

Prismlike
Usually found in B horizons. Most common in soils of arid
and semi-arid regions. Size 150 mm or more in diameter.

There are two types:

•Columnar (round tops)

•Prismatic (flat, angular tops)

Prismatic and columnar structures are soil particles which have formed into
vertical columns or pillars separated by miniature, but definite, vertical cracks.
Water circulates with greater difficulty and drainage is poor. They are
commonly found in the B-horizon where clay has accumulated
Prismatic structure
in a B-horizon
Soil structure
Description of soil structure.
 Shape of peds (type).

 Size (fine, medium and coarse).

 Grades (strong, moderate, or weak)

Example; description of soil horizon of a particular soil profile.

“weak, fine subangular blocky structure”
SOIL PARTICLE DENSITY

Soil particle density Dp or PD is defined as the mass

perunit volume of soil solids (total volume contrast to
volume of soil, which also include spaces between
particles).

Soil particle density is the same as specific gravity of soil.

g. cm-3 or kg. m-3

Soil particle density

PD = (Mass of oven-dried solid soil)/(volume of solid soil).

PD = DP = 2.6 to 2.7 g cm-3

Density of concrete – 2.4 g cm-3

Particle density (PD or DP) increase with the presence of iron

oxides and decrease with the presence of organic matter.
Soil particle density
Density of several soil-forming minerals

Materials Density (g cm-3)

Water 1.0

Quartz 2.65

Feldspar 2.5 to 2.7

Micas 2.7 to 3.0

Clay minerals 2.0 to 3.0

Soil Bulk Density
Bulk density BD or Db defined as the mass of a unit volume of
dry soil.
The volume include volume of both solid and pores.

BD or DB = (Mass of solid soil)/(volume of soil)

= (Weight dry soil)/(volume of dry soil) = g. cm-3

BD of mineral soil normally 1.0 to 1.8 g cm-3

BD of organic soil normally 0.1 to 0.6 g cm-3
Soil bulk density
Management practice affecting bulk density
Increase BD or DB indicate:
 Poorer environment for root growth
 Reduced aeration
 Undesirable change in hydrologic function, such as reduced
water infiltration.
SOIL BULK DENSITY

Soil bulk density may increase resulted from compaction. It

can occur when pressure is applied to soil surface.
•Increase recreational and transport use.

•Agricultural activities – example tillage may temporarily

loosen the surface soil but in the long term intense tillage
increase bulk density because it depletes soil organic matter
and weaken soil structure.
•Application of heavy machinery may also produce
compaction.
SOIL BULK DENSITY
Increase soil bulk density signified degree of
compaction. Severe compaction can cause severely the
followings:
•Reduce porosity and permeability
Reduce air exchange, and a longer residence time for air in the soil.
•

Oxygen content drop but increase CO2 content.

•Decreased infiltration rate of water.
•Increase erosion associated with greater runoff.
•Reduced water percolation, which can leave soil excessively wet.
•Reduced availability of water that is in the soil.
•Restricted root growth.
 SOIL COMPACTION

Soil compaction occurs when weight of livestock

or heavy machinery compresses soil, causing it
to lose pore space. Affected soils become less
able to absorb rainfall, thus increasing runoff and
erosion. Compacted soil also Inhibit plant root
penetration, leaving little space for air and water,
which are essential for root growth. Burrow
animal also find hostile environment, because
the denser soil is more difficult to penetrate.
Soil Compaction meter
Soil porosity
Porosity
Porosity can be measured by two ways:

 Porosity measured by placing an oven-dry ( o.d.) soil core in a

pan of water until all the empty space is filled with water.
 Por=(Wet weight (g) – Dry weight (g))/(soil volume
(cm3))x100.
 Porosity express in %
 APPLICATION
Pore space – porosity
1. Determines the amounts of water and air.
2. Factor for root penetration.
POROSITY
PPOROSITY
POROSITY
POROSITY

Characteristic of pore space (porosity)

•Compacted subsoil has the lowest porosity – as low as

25%
•Well-aggregated soil has the highest porosity – 60%

•Ideal soil has 50% porosity – half filled with air and

another half filled with water.

Porosity

Soil Years Cultivated Uncultivate Porosity Porosity

texture cropped soil (BD) d soil (BD) cultivated uncultivate
d
Loam 58 1.25 1.07 50% 57.2%
Silt loam More than 50 1.13 0.93 56.2% 62.7%
1
Silt loam 40 1.31 1.05 50.5% 60.3%
2
Silt loam 90 1.30 1.04 50.9% 60.8%
3
Clay 1 70 1.28 0.98 51.7% 63.0%
Clay 2 70 1.38 1.21 47.9% 54.3%
Porosity

Groups of porosity. Porosity of soil can be grouped base on size:

 Macropores. Size larger than 7.5 µm (7.5 x 10-5m)

 Mesopores. Size between 30 to 75 µm

 Micropores. Size smaller than 30 µm (3 x 10-5m)

Porosity
Macropores
 Allow the ready movement of air and the drainage of water.

 Large enough to accommodate plants roots and the wide range

of tiny animals that inhibit the soil.

 Macropores can occur as the spaces between sand grains in

coarse-textured soil. A sandy sand even though has lower

porosity , the movement of air and water is excellence due to
dominance of macropores.
 In well structured soil, the macropores are generally found

between aggregate or peds.

MESOPORES

Mesopore
•The properties of mesopores are highly studied by soil scientists to help
with agriculture and irrigation. Size 30 to 75 µm.

•The pores filled with water at field capacity (FC).

• Also known as storage pores because of the ability to store water useful to
plants.

•They do not have capillary forces too great so that the water does not
become limiting to the plants.

•These mesopores are ideally always full or contain liquid to have successful
plant growth.
POROSITY
Micropores
•Normally filled with water.

•Water movement very slow.

•Much of the water retained in the pores not available to

plants.
•Fine-textured soil, especially those without a stable granular

structure, may have a preponderance of micropores, thus

allowing relatively slow gas and water movement despite
having large volume of total pore space.
•Some smaller such as nanopore not accommodate animals

live not even the smallest bacteria. This pores can be hiding
place for some hazardous organic chemical such as pesticide.
Porosity
Factors affecting porosity and bulk density

 Soil Texture.
 Organic matter content.
 Soil depth
 Porosity

Soil texture
 Sandy soil tend to be less porous than silty or clayey soils

Texture class Porosity Bulk Density

Sand 32 – 42% 1.55 – 1.88 gcm-3
Loam 43 – 49% 1.35 – 1.5 gcm-3
Clay 51 – 55% 1.20-1.30 gcm-3
 POROSITY

Soil Texture
•The attribute to clay content on soil structure.

•In sandy soil there is less aggregation and closer packing of

particles.
•Clayey consist of many micropores within aggregates in addition
to the larger pores found between peds.
•However average size of individual pores is greater in sandy soils.
 Porosity

Organic Matter Content

 Important in the formation and stabilization of soil structure.

 Increasing amount of organic matter content in the soil

promote more stable structure and lead to increase porosity

and decreased bulk density.
 Particle density of organic matter is approximately half that of

the mineral material.

 POROSITY

Soil Depth
Generally porosity decreases and bulk density increases with depth

in the soil.
These change due to several factors:

1.Top soil organic content higher – soil structure stability.

2.Distribution of soil organism – organism action create macropores.

3.Aggregation – root network higher and density of fauna soil

structure is granular which has abundant inter-aggregate pore space.

 Permeability
Definition - Permeability is the ease with which air, water, and
roots move through soil.

In highly permeable soil, water infiltrates soil rapidly, and

aeration keeps roots well supplied with oxygen.

Roots grow through permeable soil with ease.

 Permeability depends partially on the number of soil pores, but

it depends more on size and continuity of the pores – continuity
of pores within soil structure.
SOIL COLOR

Color is indicator of soil condition.

•

The main color colorants are iron oxides and organic

•

matter.
 Soil Color
Factor determined soil color
Organic matter contents

Soil wetness

Soil aeration – oxidation states of iron and

Manganese.
COLOR

Color as guide to decide on usefulness of soil.

•

White and light colored soils usually have low fertility,

•

either because they are leached or high in salts.

Very dark top soils that are high in organic matter may be
•

quite fertile.

However one should also check on gleying; condition of

•

high organic matter content may result from lack of oxygen.

SOIL COLOR

Color of soil varies

•Dark brown to black

•White to light gray.

•Light brown, yellow to red.

•Bluish gray.

•Mottled red.
Soil color
White to light gray
 Indicate leaching of chemicals.

 May be appeared in heavily leached sandy soils and E

horizons.
 White color may also due to accumulations of lime, gypsum,

or other salts.
Soil color

Light Brown, Yellow to red

 Colors of oxidized iron minerals, similar to rust.

 Red color indicates good drainage because there is enough
oxygen in the soil to form the oxides.
SOIL COLOR

Bluish gray
•Color of reduced iron and indicates a lack of oxygen in the

soil.
•The lack of oxygen results from water logging, so bluish-

gray color in the subsoil indicates poor soil drainage.

•The occurrence of this color called gleying
SOIL COLOR

Mottled Colors
•Soil show patches of different colors, often spots of rust,

yellow and gray.

•Mottling in subsoil suggests that the soil is waterlogged for

part but not all of the year.

•Mottled result from oxidation-reduction reactions involving

iron.
 SOIL COLOR

Quantification of color
Munsell develop chart to quantified color
His color chart and quantity is based on three types of soil
appearance.
Hue

Value

Chroma
 SOIL COLOR

Quantification of soil color

Hue
Main color identification – every page of the chart refer to the
hue number and code identification such as 2.5 YR. Soil with
main color lighter yellow to red.
 SOIL COLOR

Quantification of soil color

Value
Value is the lightness or darkness of the HUE. Value is denoted
by the numbers 0 to 10. Where 0 is black and 10 white.
 Soil Color
Quantification of soil color

Chroma

Chroma signified the purity of the dominant color; and denoted

by a number. Low chroma suggests muddy color.

Examples

2.5YR 4/3
Soil Consistency

Soil consistency refers to the behavior of soil when pressure is

applied. It relates to the degree that soil particles stick to one
another and mostly results from certain types of clay.
Soil consistency depends on the grade of structure and the water

content.
Soil consistency describes the change in soil’s physical

condition with change in water content, and reflect both the

cohesive force between particles and the resistance of the soil
mass to deformation – bulk shear strength (compaction)
Soil consistency

Some examples of soil consistency

 Loose sand – shift easily under pressure, so that vehicles may

get stuck in sand along a beach.

 Broken down of soil pieces – the easiness of broken down the

soil determine how consistence the soil is.

 Consistency of soil depend on how moist the soil is
SOIL CONSISTENCY

Level of consistency depend on moisture content

•Wet soil

•Moist soil

•Dry soil
 SOIL CONSISTENCY
•Wet Soil
•Wet soil is related to stickiness and plasticity.

•Plasticity is how easily soil can be molded between

fingers.

•Stickiness is determined by pressing the wet soil

between thumb and fore finger, and the amount that
sticks to the fingers is noted.
Soil consistency

Moist soil
 Term friable and firm apply to soils in the moist state.

 Friable – means that soil materials can be crushed easily under

pressure. Technically, a soil is termed friable if a soil of 2 cm
can be easily crushed between thumb and forefinger.
Soil consistency
Dry soil

Determined by trying to crush an air-dried mass of soil in the

hand.

Very hard, dry soil, for instance, can be crushed between two
hands.
 Soil temperature
 Soil temperature in the growing regions of the world keep a
temperature balance over the year that is satisfactory for plant
growth.
 Top soil temperature more influence by the daily temperature
change.
 Below 25 cm however, temperature varies little from time to
time or from day to day.
 Soil Temperature
Soil temperature critical to farmers.

 Each crop has a temperature range that is best for seed

growth.
 Root growth and function also depend on soil temperature –
the sensitivity depend on types of crops.
 Microbial processes are influenced markedly by soil
temperature changes. General soil microbial activity and
organic matter decomposition virtually cease below about 5oC
referred to as biological zero. The rates microbial processes
such as respiration more than double as temperature increase
10oC.
 SOIL TEMPERATURE

Factors affecting soil temperature.

 Weather condition

Soil color – dark soil absorb more sunlight.

 Soil component – It takes five time as much energy to

warm water than to warm an equal volume of mineral

particles.
Type of mineral – sandy soil, which hold the least amount

of water, tend to warm up most quickly.

 Soil Temperature

Other factors affecting soil temperature

 Rain – rainfall cool the soil, since it is often cooler than the

soil it penetrates.
 Soil cover – Bare soils warm up more quickly and cool off

more rapidly than those covered with vegetation, or plastics

mulch. The effect of dense forest is universally recognized.
Timber-harvest practices that leaves sufficient canopy to
provide about 50% will likely prevent undue soil warming
that could hasten the loss of soil organic matter or the onset of
anaerobic condition in wet soil.
 Soil Aeration

Aeration
 Aeration involves the ventilation of the soil, with gases

moving both into and out of the soil. Aeration determines the
rate of gas exchanges with the atmosphere, the proportion of
pore spaces filled with air, the composition of soil air, and the
resulting chemical oxidation or reduction potential in the soil
environment.
Aeration

Mechanism of aeration
Diffusion through the soil pore space. The most important

mechanism of aeration
Percolating rainwater – rainwater carried dissolved oxygen into

soil but at smaller percentage due to low solubility of oxygen in

water – 0.028mL/L at 25 oC and 1 atm. Pressure.
Mass flow of gases due to pressure atmospheric change created

by wind turbulence.
 Soil Aeration
Characterization of soil aeration.
Soil aeration may be characterized in various ways:

 The content of oxygen and other gases in the soil atmosphere.

 The air-filled soil porosity.
 The chemical oxidation-reduction (redox) potential.
 Soil Aeration

Oxygen and other gases composition in soil atmosphere

 Soil air is consistently lower in O2 and higher in CO2.

 Once supply of oxygen exhausted, the soil environment is said
to be anaerobic.
Low oxygen contents are typical of wet soil.
 Aeration

Anaerobic organism
Aerobic organism Only 10% of soil organism
i.

Generally beneficial to soil and

i. population
plants Generate less metabolic energy per
ii.

Heterotrophs break down C

ii. mole of substrate during respiration
compounds for energy and growth – cell growth slower.
to produce humus, water and CO2. Form more varied products
iii.

Mineralize elements such as N, P

iii. including CO2, H2O and reduced C
and S during composition compounds such as ethanol.
iv. Produce NO3 and SO4 Methane, and other hydrocarbon
gases.
Bacteria produce hormone for
v.
Produced reduced inorganic form
iv.
plant growth for
of chemicals and undesirable.
 Soil Aeration
Air-filled porosity
 Ideal soil composition for plant growth would be 50:50 mix of

air and water in the soil pore space.

 Plant growth inhibited severely when air-filled porosity fall

below 20% of the pore space or 10% of total soil volume.

 High water content block air flow cause oxygen deficiencies

in soil.
 SOIL AERATION

Oxidation-Reduction
In healthy soil environment, oxidized states such as those of
Fe(III) in FeOOH and N(V) in NO3(nitrate) are dominant. In
poorly aerated soil, Fe(II) in FeO and N(III) in NH 4+
(ammonium).
 SOIL AERATION
Factors Affecting soil aeration
Drainage of excess water.

Rates of respiration in the soil.

Subsoil verses topsoil.

Soil heterogeneity

Seasonal differences

Effect of vegetation
 Soil Aeration
Drainage of excess water
 Dissolved O is carried into soil by percolating rainwater.
2
Small amount due to low O2 solubility in water.
 Depend on size of macropores – thus drainage depend on the
total volume of macropores.
 Soil texture, bulk density, aggregate stability, organic matter
content, and biopore formation are soil characteristics that
determine aeration.
 Soil Aeration
Rates of respiration in the soil
 Diffusion the most effective mechanism of soil aeration.

Diffusion through the soil pore space.

 concentration of both oxygen and carbon dioxide are largely

dependent on microbial activity which in turn depends on the

availability of organic carbon compounds as food.
 Types of respiration – aerobic and anaerobic
 SOIL AERATION

Subsoil verses topsoil

Subsoils are usually more deficient in oxygen than are

topsoils.
Macropore space are also much lower in deeper horizon
 Soil Aeration
Soil Heterogeneity
Profile -aeration status varies greatly in different locations in a

soil profile.
Tillage - have both short and long –term effects on soil aeration

– short term improve aeration but long term reduce

macroporosity.
Large macropores. Poorly aerated zones may result from

compacted soil layer.

Plant roots. The roots of growing plants may either reduce or

increase the oxygen concentration in their immediate vicinity.

 Soil Aeration
Seasonal Differences

There is marked seasonal variation in the composition of soil air.

During humid and wet weather opportunities for ready gas
exchange are poor.
 SOIL AERATION

Effects of vegetation
In addition to root respiration, vegetation may affect soil aeration
by removing large quantities of water via transpiration, enough
to lower the water table in some poorly drained soils.
 CONCLUDING REMARKS

 Physical properties are soil characteristics a farmer can see or

feel.
 Soil physical properties greatly affect how soil are used to
grow plants or for other activities.
 Water movement and drainage, soil aeration, nutrients
retention, soil temperature all determines by soil physical
properties.