Introduction to Soil

SOIL SYSTEMS
 What is soil?
● Soil is a thin layer of
disintegrated rock particles,
organic matter, water and air
● Covers most of the land surface
to an average depth of only
about 20 cm.
● It includes: organic matter,
organisms, nutrients, minerals,
air and water.
● It is essential to life

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 Soil as a System
Climate

● It is an open system:
linked to other environmental systems,
particularly climate and vegetation

● Through weathering and erosion, soil

is linked to the lithosphere system
and contributes to the rock cycle. Fauna
Flora
Soil
● The soil system participates of the
biogeochemical cycles

● Soil works as a short-term storage for

many chemical elements

Rock
Material

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 Soil’s Role in many systems
In water movement …

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 In the carbon cycle …

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 Soil functions as an ecosystem …

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Soil works as an eco-system
System processes result in Soil profiles:
● Inputs: of organic and parent material,
precipitation, infiltration and energy
● Outputs: leaching, uptake by plants and mass
movement
● Transfers: of material (including deposition) result
in reorganization of the soil
● Transformations: decomposition, weathering and
nutrient cycling, e.g.
● Nitrite → Nitrate
● nitrogen gas → Nitrate ions

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 Different soil profiles
We can illustrate soil as a profile with different layers (horizons)

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 Soil Profile Horizons

Source: AP Environmental Science (APES) Soil Horizons

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 Soil Formation Exercise
During the formation of soil there are three stages.
1. Rock weathering
2. Introduction of living organisms
3. Redistribution of material within the soil

● Explain how these processes can be affected by location and climate

● Explain why soil is different in different locations
● Explain how humans can impact the formation of soil
● Indicate the flows and processes that happen in a soil profile

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 Soil Profile
Flows

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Soil Profile composition
Sand:
• large quartz grains which are very hard and are often worn into rounded shapes
with smooth surfaces.
• Sandy soils: free draining and easily cultivated, but water quickly drains (prone to
drought)

Clay:
• particles are smaller and have a layered structure. Mineral ions can enter the soil
water and thus into roots.
• Clay soils: hold water and resist drainage (clay grains are tightly packed so that
the pore spaces between the grains are small and can fill completely with water).
Heavy soils, often anaerobic. The water in clay soils is difficult for plants to obtain.

Silt:
• more fertile than other types of soil, it promotes water retention and air circulation

* Loam soils: ideal for productivity, allowing for drainage, but not too freely, and
mineral uptake. Soils with the ideal mix of sand, silt and clay.

The soil type, climate and vegetation are all associated and inter-related.
Climate seems to be the most important factor, particularly the rainfall and
temperature cycle

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Formative activity
1. Outline which of these soils would
be best for vegetable production?

2. Outline which of these soils would

be most vulnerable to become
waterlogged from flooding?

3. Explain which soil would be best

for locating a landfill waste
disposal site.

4. Describe two characteristics of a

soil with high primary
productivity.

5. Justify why a loam soil might be

most resilient to climate change.

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