Soil in the environment.

Soil in the environment.

Soil refers to  the loose substance that is formed on the upper layers of the earth crust.

Soil is made up of both organic  and inorganic compounds or materials.

Components of soil

Mineral particles like potassium and calcium

Water 

Humus

Gases like nitrogen, oxygen,and carbon dioxide

Living organisms like bacteria

Nb; The amount of the above components depends on the type of the soil.

Soil formation.

The process of soil formation begins with weathering.

Physical or mechanical weathering is responsible for the breaking down rock particles into smaller pieces while chemical weathering is responsible for the decomposition of rocks.

Soil formation depends on the number of Factors and these include;

The nature of the parent rock;

The characteristics of the parent rock are responsible for soil formation.

This is due to the major characteristic of the parent rock like if the parent rock is very hard,then it becomes difficult to form deeper soil layers.

Then rocks with a high degree of permeability will  be easily broken down than rocks that don't allow water to penetrate through them easily.

Climate

High temperature and heavy rainfall increases the rate of decomposition of dead materials leading to deeper soil layers.

They favour bacteria which decompose the dead materials to form humus.

Time

The process of soil formation is slow, very long and alof of time is needed for the full interaction of all factors that influence soil formation.

The longer the time,the well developed soil layers will be shorter the  time.

It leads to formation of thin soil layers.

Relief or topography.

The nature of the slopes influence soil formation from thin to deep layers.

On the steep slopes,due to too much erosion,they are thon layers of the soil due to much deposition.

Living organisms

Animals, plant roots and leaves decay to form humus which is part of the soil.

Also man's activities through quarrying and mining lead to soil formation.

Worms,ants and burrowing animals like squirrels,rats and rabbits lead to soil formation.

Vegetation

Leaves provide humus through decaying.

Plant roots also help to breakdown rocks through biological weathering.

Vegetation also helps to protect soil erosion hence leading to deeper soil layers.

Soil profile

It refers to the vertical arrangement of soil layers from top to the bottom.

These layers are some times called horizons.

Along the profile, soil layers are different in colour, chemical composition and size particles.

The soil layers are arranged from top to bottom and are separated in layers.