Soil Physical Properties

Soil Structure
• Soil structure describes the arrangement of primary soil particles (sand, silt, and
clay) into secondary units or peds.
• Conditions that should be met for a soil to have a structure
• 1. there should be aggregation
• 2. there is a definite pattern of arrangement
***If any of the two condition is not met, soil is structureless***
Structureless soil conditions
a. Single grained
b. massive
 Bases for the classification of soil
structure
• Shape of aggregates
• Type of soil structure
• Size of aggregates
• Classes of soil structure
• Durability of aggregates
• Grades of soil structure
 Types of Soil Structure
Spheroidal (Granular, crumb) Platy (Platelike)
 Types of Soil Structure
Prismlike Blocklike (angular: Sub-angular
(prismatic;
columnar)

Angular Sub-angular

Prismatic Columnar
 Classes of Soil Structure
Type
Claaa
Platy prismlike blocklike spheroidal

Very fine <1 mm <10 mm <5mm <1mm

Fine 1-2mm 10-20mm 5-10mm 1-2mm

Medium 2-5mm 20-50mm 10-20mm 2-5mm

Coarse 5-10mm 50-100mm 20-50mm 5-10mm

Very course >10mm >100mm >50mm >10mm

 Grades of soil structure
0 – structureless; no aggregation or orderly arrangement
1- weak; poorly formed- non-durable, indistinct peds breaking into a mixture
of a few entire and many broken peds and much unaggregated materials
2- moderate; well formed, indistinct in undisturbed soil that breaks into
many entire and some broken but little unaggregated materials
3- strong; durable distinct peds, weakly attached to each other that breaks
almost completely into entire peds
 How to describe the soil structure
GRADE CLASS TYPE OF SOIL STRUCTURE

Example:
A soil with moderate, medium angular, platy structure

Aggregate size: 10-20 mm

Grade: 2
Platelike structure:
 Importance of Soil Structure to plants
• Soil structure would determine the distribution of pore spaces in the soil
which in turn would influence air and water movement within the soil
• Soil structure would affect the bacterial activities such as nitrification and
mineralization process
 Soil Densities
*density of an object relates to the ratio of its weight to its volume*
It is expressed as

Particle density- ratio of the weight of dry soil or soil solid (mineral + organic maater) to its volume (soil
solid).
ρp= Ms / Vs

Ms= mass of dry soil (soil solid)

Vs= volume of soil solid
Ideal/optimal particle density value= 2.65 g/cm
 Factors affecting particle density
1. Organic matter content
2. Mineralogical composition of the soil
 Bulk Density
• Ratio of the weight of soil solid to its total volume (solid + pore spaces)
ρb= Ms
Vt
Vt= total or Bulk volume
= Vs+Vp

Ideal/optimal bulk density value= 1.33 g/cm

 Factors affecting bulk density
• Organic matter content
• Mineralogical composition of the soil
• Porosity of the soil
• Soil depth
• Cultivation
• Soil texture
 Soil Porosity
• Total porosity is a portion of the soil not occupied by solid components
and filled up by water and gases
• Classification of pore spaces
• Course or large pores- function for air and water movement
• Medium pores- act as storage for available water
• Fine or small pores- retain water very strongly
 Void Ratio
• Ratio of the void to the volume of soil solids
if e= 1, Vp=Vs
if e < 1, Vp < Vs the soil is compact
if e>1, Vp > Vs the soil is porous
 Soil Water
Two aspects of soil water
1. Soil water content – capacity factor
- How much water is present
2. Energy status of soil water- intensity factor
- how easy can water be removed
 Soil water
soil water content= amount of water present in the soil

• relative to the mass of soil (θm)

Mw = mass of water
Ms= mass of dry soil or oven dried weight (ODW)

• relative to the total volume of soil (θV)

Vw = volume of water
V t = total volume of soil
Soil Water