Soil

Contents

What is Soil? Importance of Soil Formation of soil

Journey of Soil from Rock to the sea

Causes of soil erosion

Methods of soil conservation

Picture Gallery The End

What is Soil?

The upper layer of earth in which plants grow is soil. It is a black or dark brown material typically consisting of a mixture of organic remains,minerals,clay and rock particles. Soil is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and mechanical processes that include weathering, erosion and precipitation. Soil is altered from its parent rock due to interactions between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and the biosphere. It is a mixture of mineral and organic materials that are in solid, gaseous and aqueous states.

Importance of Soil

It is soil in which we plant trees and where farmers practice agriculture i.e from where we get our food. Soil quality is measured to help scientists predict impending drought by measuring the soils capability to hold water during the dry season. Living things like animals, leaves, seeds and other organic matter decompose on the soil providing organic matter that fatten up the soil. These in turn make plants grow healthier which in turn are eaten by animals that are eaten by humans. The cycle resumes when the animal dies or something decomposes with a very big help from soil.

Importance of Soil

Soil serves as a foundation for most construction projects. For ex. Roads, Bridges, Buildings etc.
Soil provides minerals and water to plants. Septic drain fields treat septic tank effluent using aerobic soil processes. Landfills use soil for daily cover. Pests and pollutants, such as persistent organic pollutants, oils , heavy metals (lead, zinc, cadmium), and excess nutrients (nitrates, sulphates, phosphates) are filtered out by the soil.

Formation of Soil

The formation of soil happens over a very long period of time. It can take 1000 years or more. Soil is formed from the weathering of rocks and minerals. The surface rocks break down into smaller pieces through a process of weathering and is then mixed with moss and organic matter. Over time this creates a thin layer of soil. Plants help the development of the soil. The plants attract animals, and when the animals die, their bodies decay. Decaying matter makes the soil thick and rich. This continues until the soil is fully formed. The soil then supports many different plants.

Formation of Soil
Stage 1 : Stage 2 :

Stage 3 :

Stage 4:

Journey of Soil
Soil formation, is the combined effect of physical, chemical and biological processes on soil parent material. Soil formation involves processes that develop layers or horizons in the soil profile. These processes involve additions, losses, transformations and trans location of material that compose the soil. Minerals derived from weathered rocks undergo changes that cause the formation of secondary minerals and other compounds that are variably soluble in water. These constituents are moved from one area of the soil to other areas by water and animal activity. The alteration and movement of materials within soil causes the formation of distinctive soil horizons. How the soil "life" cycle proceeds is influenced by at least five classic soil forming factors that are dynamically intertwined in shaping the way soil is developed: parent material, climate, topography, organisms and time. An example of soil development would begin with the weathering of lava flow bedrock which would produce the purely mineral-based parent material from which soils form. Soil development would proceed most rapidly from bare rock of recent flows in a warm climate, under heavy and frequent rainfall.

Soil Erosion

Erosion is the process by which soil and rocks are removed from the Earth's surface by natural processes such as wind or water flow, and then transported and deposited in other locations. Excessive erosion causes problems such as desertification, decreases in agricultural productivity due to land degradation, sedimentation of waterways, and ecological collapse due to loss of the nutrient rich upper soil layers. Water and wind erosion are now the two primary causes of land degradation; combined, they are responsible for 84% of degraded acreage, making excessive erosion one of the most significant global environmental problems we face today

Causes of soil erosion

1. Agricultural Practices:

Unsustainable agricultural practices are the single greatest contributor to the global increase in erosion rates. The tillage of agricultural lands, which breaks up soil into finer particles, is one of the primary factors. The problem has been increased in modern times, due to mechanized agricultural equipment that allows for deep plowing, which severely increases the amount of soil that is available for transport by water erosion

Causes of Soil Erosion

2. Deforestation:

Deforestation causes increased erosion rates due to exposure of mineral soil by removing the humus and litter layers from the soil surface, removing the vegetative cover that binds soil together, and causing heavy soil compaction from logging equipment. Once trees have been removed by fire or logging, infiltration rates become high and erosion low to the degree the forest floor remains intact. Severe fires can lead to significant further erosion if followed by heavy rainfall.

Causes of Soil Erosion

3. Roads and Urbanization:

Urbanization has major effects on erosion processes first by denuding the land of vegetative cover, altering drainage patterns, and compacting the soil during construction; and next by covering the land in an impermeable layer of concrete that increases the amount of surface runoff and increases surface wind speeds.

Much of the sediment carried in runoff from urban areas (especially roads) is highly contaminated with fuel, oil, and other chemicals. This increased runoff, in addition to eroding and degrading the land that it flows over, also causes major disruption to surrounding watersheds by altering the volume and rate of water that flows through them, and filling them with chemically polluted sedimentation.

Causes of soil erosion

Climate Change:

The warmer atmospheric temperatures observed over the past decades are expected to lead to a more vigorous hydrological cycle, including more extreme rainfall events.
The rise in sea levels that has occurred as a result of climate change has also greatly increased coastal erosion rates

Methods of Soil Conservation:

The methods for soil conservation are:

1. Terrace or slope farming

2. Crop Rotation

3. Afforestation
4. Maintaining the Soil pH

5. Salinity Management

Picture Gallery

Made by Akshat Goel, class M3A.