Soil science

Conditions to pass the course

• Exam
• Attendance to laboratory classess, preparation
of reports
 Recommended reading
• Buckman and Brady – „The Nature and
Property of Soils”
• Brady, N.C., R. Weil. - „The Nature and
Properties of Soil.”
 What is soil?
• Soil is an unconsolidated mineral and organic
matter on the Earth's surface that can be used
as a medium for plant growth (SSSA, 1996).
 More detailed definition:
• Soil is the unconsolidated mineral and organic
matter on the surface of the earth that has
been subjected to and shows effects of
genetic and environmental factors such as
climate, organisms, relief or topography,
parent material, and time (SSSA, 1996).
 Soil composition
• Soil consists of solids, liquids, and gases.
• The solid material consists of minerals and organic materials.
• Liquids and gases fill pores between the solid materials.
• Soil is a collection of living and non-living
matter that forms a three-dimensional body
(soil body) that covers the surface of the
earth. The soil body begins where the
atmosphere meets the soil surface and ends
when bedrock or unweathered parent
material is encountered.
Soil formation process
 Soil formation
• Soil forms when weathered parent material
interacts with environment.
 Soil formation process
• Soil is formed through the weathering of geologic materials
called parent material (or bedrock).

• As bedrock erodes into smaller particles near the earth's

surface, organic matter decays and mixes with inorganic
material (rock fragments, soil minerals, water, and gases) to
form soil.

• Bedrock weathering involves chemical and physical processes.

 Rate of soil formation
Slow--------------------------------------Fast
~ 1 cm/1000 yr ~ 30cm/50yr
 Soil forming
Soils form through a complex interaction of five
soil forming factors:
• parent material,
• climate,
• biota,
• topography
• time.
 Types of parent material
1. Residual parent material or residuum.
Unconsolidated, weathered mineral material that
accumulates in place as bedrock is broken down via chemical
and physical weathering processes
 Types of parent material
2. Transported Parent Material:
• Colluvial parent material or colluvium
• Alluvial parent material or alluvium
• Lacustrine parent material
• Eolian parent material
• Loess
 Colluvium
• Colluvium is a loose, unconsolidated sediment
that havs been deposited at the base of hillslopes
by either rainwash, sheetwash, slow continuous
downslope creep, or a variable combination of
these processes.
 Colluvium
• Colluvium is typically composed of a
heterogeneous range of rock types and sediments
ranging from silt to rock fragments of various
sizes. This term is also used to specifically refer to
sediment deposited at the base of a hillslope by
unconcentrated surface runoff or sheet erosion.
 Alluvium
• Alluvium is loose, unconsolidated soil or which has been
eroded, reshaped by water in some form, and
redeposited in a non-marine setting.
• Alluvium is typically made up of a variety of materials,
including fine particles of silt and clay and larger particles
of sand and gravel.
 Lacustrine parent material
• Parent material accumulated at the banks of a lake.
Its typical feature is layered structure.
 Loess
• Loess is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment,
which is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown
dust.
• Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the
accumulation of wind-blown silt, twenty percent or
less clay and the balance equal parts sand and
silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate.
It is usually homogeneous and highly porous and is
traversed by vertical capillaries that permit the
sediment to fracture and form vertical bluffs.
 Types of parent material
3. Organic parent material
Organic deposits (peat) that have accumulated in
wetlands due to hampered plant litter decomposition
is limited by oxygen availability.
 Climate
• Climate is one of the most important soil
forming factors due to its widespread influence
both geographically and on other soil forming
factors.
• Precipitation and temperature are the principle
climatic variables influencing soil formation.
 Climate
Determines speed, character of soil development:

- type and rate of weathering

- living organisms and plants found in an area
 Chemical weathering
• Chemical weathering occurs when rock
dissolves or the composition of a rock changes
through chemical processes.

Physical weathering
• Physical weathering includes the effects of
physical factors (temperature, water, and
wind) on rock weathering or breakdown.
 Climate
• Precipitation provides water that drives most
of chemical weathering reactions occurring in
soils.
 Climate
Soil water percolating through a soil profile
transports soluble and suspended materials
from surface horizons to subsurface horizons.
Percolating soil water leaving a soil as drainage
water may remove soluble materials from a soil
profile.
Soil water, induces weathering reactions
resulting in different soil horizons.
Climate
Effective precipitation

-a) seasonal distribution

-b) temperature, evaporation

-c) topography

-d)permeability
a) Seasonal distribution of precipitation:

Location A Location B
600 mm/yr 600 mm/yr

50mm 100mm

Every month 6 rainy months only

Temperature and evaporation:

Location A Location B
hot High cool Low
evapotranspiration evapotranspiration
600 mm 600 mm

Lower effective ppt Higher effective ppt

Topography:
concave or
bottom of slope
level (receiving)
slope
Permeability:
 Climate
• Temperature has a
significant influence on soil
weathering processes and
soil formation. As
temperature increases,
biological activity is
stimulated and chemical
reactions can proceed at a
more rapid rate.
 Climate
• For every 10°C temperature increase,
biochemical reaction rates double.
 Biota
Biota = Living plants and animals on and in soil

-type of vegetation influences soil type

-base pumping
-sources of organic matter
-nutrient cycling
-vegetation prevents erosion
Type of vegetation influences soil type
 Base pumping
Deciduous trees are more effective base pumpers than
conifers .

-deciduous litter is easy to break -needles are hard to

down break down
-cations (bases) are released so -basic cations leach
surface soils are not acidic away: soil is acidic
 Biota

Bacteria, fungi, arthropods, and mammals enhance

the availability of nutrients through bioturbation
(digging and aeration of the soil) and decomposition
of organic residue.
Topography
 Topography
• Topography influences the movement of
water in the landscape and soil temperature.

• Soils positioned higher in the landscape are

generally more well-drained than those in
lower landscape positions, due to the
movement of water downslope to lower lying
areas.
 Topography
• Movement of water influences erosional processes
that result in soils on steep slopes being thin or
shallow, whereas soils in valleys are often deep.
 Topography
• Aspect of a landscape position has a strong
influence on soil temperature. South-facing
slopes in the northern hemisphere are
generally warmer, less moist, and contain
lower amounts o f soil organic matter than
north-facing slopes.
 Time

• The period of time since a parent material has

been exposed has a profound influence on soil
formation and development.
• The longer a parent material is exposed the
greater length of time for physical, chemical, and
biological processes to act upon the soil, thereby
influencing properties of a soil.
• Examples: under favorable conditions an A
horizon could form in 10-20 years, whereas it
could require centuries for the development of a
B horizon
 Time
Young soils:
• Volcanic or alluvial in origin
• Greater fertility
• Poorly developed profiles
• Highly productive
 Time
Old soils:
• Well developed profiles
• Increased clay content
• More acid pH
• Nutrients are leached
• Less fertile and productive than the young
soils