What is Soil?

What |s so||?
8rady and We|| prov|de th|s def|n|t|on
O Soil is:
4 dynamic natural body composed of minerals and organic
solids, gases, liquids, and living organisms which can serve as
a medium for plant growth.
4 %he collection of natural bodies occupying parts of the Earths
surface that is capable of supporting plant growth and that
has properties resulting from the integrated effects of climate
and living organisms acting upon parent material, as
conditioned by topography, over periods of time.
O irst = pragmatic
O Second = functional
ow do you def|ne so||s spat|a||y?
%he world of soils, or the pedosphere, exists at the interface between the
lithosphere (world of rocks), the hydrosphere (world of water), the
atmosphere (world of air), and the biosphere (world of life). Not surprisingly
therefore, the four main components of soil are air, water, mineral matter,
and organic matter.
O What is the pedosphere? How do you think we can spatially define
the pedosphere?
O magine that we are standing in a field and we have a spade and
we begin to dig. How deep will we have to go to reach the end of
the pedosphere? What is below the pedosphere? n other words,
where does the pedosphere begin and end?

%raditionally, soil is seen as that part of the ground where you will find
vegetation roots. s such, the lower boundary of soil is determined by the
greatest rooting depth of the natural vegetation.

However, the pedosphere can be seen as extending from the grounds
surface to the bedrock of unweathered, hard rock.
%his is called the regolith and it can vary in thickness from virtually
nonexistent (exposed bare rock) to tens of meters in deep in others.
O Where might you find an example of very shallow or nonexistent
regolith?
ountains (rock), bedrock
O Where might you find a soil with a regolith zone meters deep?
!rairies
What makes up so||?
%he composition of soil is always fluctuating. When it is dry, there is more
air. When it is wet, there is more water.
ve already said that soils consists of four basic components: minerals/rock,
water, air, and organic matter. %he relative proportions of these four
components greatly influence the behavior and productivity of a soil.
O Soil may appear to be solid. You can pick it up and it feels and looks
solid, but it is not. Every soil consists of both solid materials and
pore spaces. n general only about half of the volume of a soil
constitutes solid materials and the other half consists of pore
spaces filled by either air or water. (pie chart)
O ineral materials constitute the material foundation for soils and is
generally derived from the breaking down of rock. Organic matter,
while much less than mineral materials in volume and even less in
terms of weight, is very important in terms of the soil and its
productivity.
O &% pore spaces are also extremely important, t is in these pore
spaces that air and water circulate in the soil, roots grow and
microscopic creatures live.
What makes up so||? M|nera| mater|a|s
Lxcept |n the case of organ|c so||s (such as peat so||s) most so||'s so||d framework
comes from |ts m|nera| content
O %hese particles include stones, gravel and coarse sands, silts and
clays.
O %he general properties of the three classes of inorganic soil particles
is summarized in %able 1.2 of your text (page 17). Note how the
different categories contribute to water retention and the ability to
hold both chemicals and nutrients for plants.
O ll soils consist of varying ratios of these categories of mineral
materials. %he proportions of each form what we call soil texture.
Well get that topic next week, However, we have all heard of soils
being described as a loam, a sandy loam, a silty clay, or a clay loam
and so on. %exture is often used to help describe a particular soil
type.

@he |norgan|c m|nera|s found |n so||s are the or|g|na| source of most of the chem|ca|
e|ements needed for p|ant growth
O While most of these chemicals are locked up in crystalline
structures of the minerals, a small but important proportion is
found in the form of charged ions on the surface of fine colloidal
materials (clays and organic).
O What do mean by .olloidal? colloidal system describes a
condition where very small particles of one substance are dispersed
in a medium of a different substance. Clay and organic soil particles
smaller than about 0.001 mm (1 micron) in diameter are generally
seen as possessing colloidal properties as they are suspended in
liquid (and are usually floating around in the soil).
O ut these particles possess extremely large surface areas
collectively. nd because their surfaces exhibit electromagnetic
charges that attract positive and negative charged ions, as well as
water, this is where most of the soils chemical and physical
activities take place.

o|| m|nera|s are d|v|ded |nto two categor|es pr|mary and secondary m|nera|s
O !rimary minerals - %hese are minerals that persist with little
change in their composition in the soil, %hese make up the sands
and silts.
O $econdary minerals - %hese are the clays and other minerals, such
as iron oxides, that are formed through weathering and the
breakdown of less resistant minerals during soil formation.

|na||y there |s the ro|e of m|nera| mater|a|s |n a so||'s structure
O s rady and Weil write, sand, silt, and clay particles can be
thought of as the building blocks of a soil. How these building
blocks are arranged is called the soil stru.ture.
O How these form aggregates - mixes of these different classes of
inorganic particles - is equally important to soil texture in
governing how water and air move through the soil.
What makes up so||? Crgan|c matter
@here are two types of organ|c matter to be found |n so||
O iving creatures
O ecomposing organic matter of deceased creatures.

@he rema|ns of p|ant an|ma|s and m|croorgan|sms are cont|nuous|y be|ng broken
down |n the so|| creat|ng new substances synthes|zed by other ||v|ng creatures
O Organic matter is constantly being lost by the soil due to the
release of carbon dioxide, produced by microbial respiration, so the
soil has to be constantly replenished with organic matter to
maintain its soil organic matter content. nd it is - falling leaves in
the autumn, dying creatures, grasses and so on. ut where does
the carbon dioxide found in plants come from?
O arge amounts of carbon dioxide are captured by plants through
photosynthesis and sequestered in the plants. %his eventually
becomes part of the soil so the cycle is complete.

Organic matter makes up a relatively small percentage of the soil mass or
volume of a soil. y weight, a typically well-drained soil contains between 1
to 6% organic matter. %his is concentrated at or near the surface of the
ground. ut, as have already said, organic matter is very important for
four basic reasons:
1. Organic matter binds mineral particles into granular structure that
makes it easy for plant roots to penetrate the soil as well as for soil
microorganisms to move about, and makes productive soils.
2. t enhances the capacity of the soil to hold water.
3. t also contains several important nutrients essential for plant
growth including phosphorous and sulfur, and is the primary natural
source of nitrogen. s soil organic matter decays, these nutrient
elements are released as soluble ions.
4. inally, it is the primary source of carbon and energy for soil
organisms.
What makes up so||? o|| water
Water |s v|ta| |n the eco|og|ca| funct|on|ngs of so||s
O ts presence is essential for the growth and survival of plants and
soil organisms alike
O ovement of water, and substances dissolved in it, through the soil
is of great consequences to the quality and quantity of local and
regional water resources
O Water moving through the regolith is also a major force in soil
formation

@wo th|ngs to remember about so|| water
O Water is held within soil pores with varying degrees of tenacity
depending upon the amount of water present and the size of the
pores.
O Soil water is not pure; it contains hundreds of dissolved organic and
inorganic substances. s such it is more accurately described as the
soil solution. %his oil solution serves to constantly replenish the
nutrients found in soil and brings these to the roots.
What makes up so||? o|| a|r
|na||y there |s so|| a|r Cbv|ous|y so|| pores are f|||ed w|th a|r unt|| rep|aced by water
o so|| a|r |s |nverse|y re|ated to water content
O %hink of soil pores as a ventilation system connecting the soil to the
atmosphere

o|| a|r d|ffers from atmospher|c a|r |n three respects
O %he composition of soil air varies greatly from place to place in the
soil. %his is due, in part, to the uptake of air by plant roots that
changes the composition of the air in the immediate area.
O Soil air generally has a higher moisture content than the
atmosphere and its relative humidity approaches 100% unless the
soil is very dry.
O %he content of carbon dioxide is usually much higher, and that of
oxygen much lower, in soil air than the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide
is usually several hundred times higher in soil air than in the
atmosphere while oxygen represents between 5 to 10% (or even
less) in soil air compared to the 20% in the atmosphere.