SOIL, how it is formed?

When asked, ‘What is soil?’. How many of us really know the answer? I am sure, everyone will take out their smart phone and start to search the definition through the internet. If you cannot give a complete definition scientifically, its fine... But…at least you must know how do soil form and how important it is! How could we ignore this natural resources called SOIL? After all the contributions? Did you know that soil is non-renewable resources? Know soil know life, no soil no life! That is how SIGNIFICANT soil is in our life.

How do soil form? There are fives (5) major factors control the soil formation as stated by Hans Jenny in Jenny’s CLORPT equation.

Jenny’s CLORPT equation, s = ƒ (cl, o, r, p, t)

         Biography: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/acee/14f0e1e1d04e44e789e080dbcfde48f91b4b.pdf

         Published Book: https://soilandhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/01aglibrary/010159.Jenny.pdf

1. CLIMATE

Climates determine the speed of weathering processes and the character of soil development. Two important types of weathering are temperature and moisture. These are the one that influence the speed of chemical reactions, which in turn, control how fast rocks weather and dead organisms decompose. High temperature and high precipitation increases weathering process. Soils are differ across the country, these is due to the the climate. If we compare the tropical region and the dessert, the rate of weathering in tropical region is higher than the dessert because of the climate in tropical region is warm and moist.

Source: https://anthropocenesoil.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/clay-minerology-power-of-ten/

2. ORGANISMS

Organisms such as plants and animals also speed up the breakdown of large soil particles into smaller ones. Dead plants and animals was decompose into organic matter by microbes (bacteria & fungi) in soil. Small animals such as earth worm mix and bind soil to create channels for air and water. Plant roots has the ability to break the rocks physically. Under different vegetation also, there is different picture of the soil profiles effect of type of tree litter produce. O horizon in the tropical forest is thinner than the forest with cold moist climates due to slower rate of microbial decompositions in cold climates.

3. RELIEF

Relief can greatly influence soil development. It has an effect on soil formation through soil moisture, temperature and the erosion rate. The shape of the land and the direction in faces makes a difference in how much sunlight the soil gets, and how much water it keeps. Steep slopes have thinner A horizons and less soil development due to erosion. While at the ‘foot’ and ‘toe’ of a slope, A horizons tend to be thicker due to deposition from upland areas. Soil color also different depend on the slope location. Soil color also provide the information on water content, drainage and mineral weathering.

          Source: http://www.eschooltoday.com/soils/factors-that-affect-soil-formation.html

4. PARENT MATERIAL

Just as you and I have parents so do soils. Parent Material is the material from which the soil develop and often found in C horizon or R horizon. Many of the soil properties as ours are inherited from their parents. Parent material is variables, not all soils have rocks as their ultimate parent. Three broad groups of parent material are organic materials, residual materials and transported materials.

Transported materials: Aeolian (by wind)

Organic materials: Organic deposit

Residual material: Bedrock

        5. TIME

The final factor involved in soil formation is time. Soil formation is the continuous series of processes. As soils age they develop thicker A and B horizons. Soil does not form overnight. It takes HUNDREDS TO THOUSANDS of years for these factors of formation to create ONE INCH of soil from parent material.

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