1. SOILSSOILS

2. Soil: Definition Engineering definition: Anything that can be removed without blasting Solid earth material that has been altered by physical, chemical and organic processes so that it can support rooted plant life. 3. Soil Production 4. Conversion of rock to soil Soil Production: Inputs 5. Soil Production: Outputs Downslope movement of soil 6. Factors of Soil Formation Climate Organisms Parental Material Topography Time 7. Climate Temperature and precipitation Indirect controls (e.g., types of plants) Weathering rates The greater the rainfall, the faster the rates of erosion and leaching. Factors of Soil Formation 8. Organisms Types of native vegetation Weathering is dependent of plant growth Plant and animal activity produces humic acids that are powerful weathering agents. Plants can physically erode as well as chemically erode. Plants stabilize soil profiles, Animals (including humans) tend to increase erosion. Factors of Soil Formation 9. Parental Material: Chemistry Mineralogy Grain size Factors of Soil Formation 10. Soil Texture 11. Topography: Ground slope Elevation Aspect (e.g., north facing vs. south facing slopes) Factors of Soil Formation 12. Downslope transport of soil is a function of slope: The steeper the surface slope, the more likely any eroded material is to be transported out of the system. Factors of Soil Formation 13. Soils on hillslopes reach an equilibrium thickness, often about 1 m. Soils on flat surfaces, such as floodplains or plateaus, tend to thicken through time due to weathering rates being greater than sediment transport rates. Factors of Soil Formation 14. Time Development and destruction of soil horizons Reaction rates are slow, the longer a rock unit has been exposed, the more likely it is to be weathered. Factors of Soil Formation 15. Soil Development 16. Decomposition of organic matter Humification to form complex organic matter Weathering of rocks to produce more stable forms Physical weathering Fragmentation of rock Freeze-thaw; drying-wetting; fire Physical abrasion Abrasion by glaciers Chemical weathering Dissolves primary minerals Forms secondary minerals Transformations 17. Saprolite is weathered rock that retains remnant rock structure. Saprolite Soil Bedrock 18. Weathering Products: Product of weathering is regolith or soil Regolith or soil that is transported is called sediment 19. Weathering often proceeds along fractures and joints, resulting in progressive development of corestones. 20. Weathering often proceeds along fractures and joints, resulting in progressive development of corestones that when exposed at the surface can form tors and larger bornhardts (also known as inselbergs or rock islands). 21. Inselberg (bornhardt), Mali 22. Inselberg (bornhardt), Ayers Rock, Australia 23. Inselberg (bornhardt), precambrian granite, central Texas 24. Typical soil profile 25. Cookport soil, Pennsylvania C Horizon B Horizon A Horizon 26. Laterites 27. Deforestation removes the fertile organic layer. The underlying soil is infertile, dries to brick-like hardness when it dries out, and is difficult to cultivate. Aluminum (from bauxite) and iron (from limonite) can be mined from these soils. DEFORESTATION 28. Carajas, Brazil 29. Limits of Soil Development Balance Between: Downward Lowering of Surface Downward Migration of Horizons If erosion rapid or soil evolution slow, soils may never mature beyond a certain point. Extremely ancient soils may have lost everything movable 30. Weathering with Climate Polar Temperate TropicalArid 31. Soil Production Function 32. Sugar Loaf, Rio De Janiero, Brazil 33. Convex, soil-mantled hillslopes, Northern California 34. Agricultural Soil Loss Erosion of unprotected soils during periods where they remain fallow and without vegetative cover leads to increased erosion 35. Samples of different types of soil 36. Alluvial soil The most fertile soil found in the northern plains of India 37. Black soil Also known as Regur soil found in peninsular India 38. Red soil Rich in Iron Suitable for wheat and rice 39. We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot. - Leonardo da Vinci 40. Done by Snehal Sneharsh Yogaksh Prallam Deep Rudresh