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SoilFormation
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Soilisaloosemixtureofrockfragments,organicmaterial,water,andairthatcanaccommodatethe
growthofvegetation.Soilsdifferaccordingtowhattypeofrockthatthesoilisweatheredfrom(an
example,Bedrock).Therockformationthatisthesourceofmineralfragmentsinthesoiliscalledthe
parentrock.Soilthatisstationedaboveitsparentrockisknownasresidualsoil,whichsoilthathas
beenmovedawayfromitsparentrockisknownastransportedsoil.Causesforthetransportationof
soilarerivers,wind,ormovementofglaciers.

Contents SoilinCanada

1 Soilproperties
1.1 SoilTextureandStructure
1.2 SoilFertility
1.3 SoilHorizons
1.4 SoilpH
2 SoilandClimate
2.1 TropicalRainForestClimates
2.2 DesertClimates
2.3 ArcticClimates
2.4 TemperateForestandGrasslandClimates
3 SoilConservationTechniques

Soilproperties
Somesoilscan'tsupportthegrowthofvegetation(forestsoil)andsomesoilscansupportthegrowthofvegetation(temperatesoil).Tobetter
comprehendthesubjectofsoil,youwillneedtostudyits[soil]properties,suchassoiltexture,soilstructure,andsoilfertility.

SoilTextureandStructure
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Soilismadeupofsizedparticleswithdifferentsizes.Theseparticlescanbeaslargeassand(2mm).Otherparticlescanbetoosmalltothe
pointthatwewillneedthehelpofamicroscopetoseethem!Soiltextureisthesoilqualitythatisbasedontheproportionsofsoilparticles.

Soiltextureaffectsthesoil'sconsistency,whichisthesoil'sabilitytobeworkedandbrokenupforfarming(ex:SoilTexturethathasalarge
proportionofclaycanbehardanddifficultforfarmerstobreakup).SoilTextureinfluencesthe"infiltration",orabilityofwatertomove
throughsoil.Soilshouldbeabletoallowtheaccessofwater[togettotheplants'roots],but,thesoilshouldbeabletoallowENOUGHwater,
meaning:nottocompletelysaturatethesoil.

Waterandairmovementthroughsoilisalsoinfluencedbysoilstructure,whichisthearrangementofsoilparticles.Soilparticlesarenot
alwaysevenlyspreadout.Often,onetypeofsoilparticlewillclumpinanarea.Aclumpofonetypeofsoilcaneitherblock/helpwaterflow,
whichaffectsthesoil'smoisture,orsimplytoput:"soilmoisture".

SoilFertility

SoilFertilityistheabilityforsoiltokeepaholdofnutrientsandtosupplynutrientstoaplant.Some
soilsarerichinnecessarynutrients,likeiron,whilesomesoilsdonothavethenecessarynutrientsand
aren'tabletosupply[thenecessarynutrients].Alotofnutrientsinsoilcomefromtheparentrock,
whileotherscomefromaorganicmaterialnamedhumus.Humusformsfromdecayedremainsof
plants/animals.Theseremainsarebrokendownintonutrientsbydecomposes,suchasbacteriaand
fungi.

SoilHorizons
Closeupviewofhumus
Duetotheformationofsoil,soilisusuallyinaseriesoflayers:Humusrichsoil,sediments,andthen,
bedrock.Geologists,oranexpertinstudyingtheEarth,calltheselayers"horizons".

Thetoplayerofsoilisusuallycalledtheterm,"topsoil".Topsoilcontainsthemosthumusoutofalltheotherlayers,sothatiswhyitis
ESSENTIALforfarmerstohavegoodtopsoil,becausehumusisrichinthenutrientsfortheplantstobehealthy!

AHorizonConsistsofthetopsoil,whichcontainsalotofhumus.SoilsinforesthaveanOhorizon.
BHorizonCollectsdissolvingsubstancesandnutrientsdepositedfromtheupperhorizons.
EhorizonTheAandtheBhorizon=combined!
C/RhorizonBedrock:PartiallyNoweathered/weathering.

SoilpH

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Soilscanbeacidicorbasic.ThepHscaleisusedtomeasureifsoilisacidicorbasic,andhowacidic
andbasicitis!Thescalerangesfrom014,7beingneutral.SoilthathasapHbelow7isacidic,while
soilthathasapHabove7isbasic.Differentplantsneeddifferentnutrients,sotherightpHforasoil
dependsontheplantsgrowinginit.SoilthathaveahighorlowpHdeprivetheirplantsof
certain/differentnutrients(dependingonthepH).

SoilandClimate
Soiltypesvaryfromplacetoplace,typicallybecauseofthedifferencesoftheclimate.

TropicalRainForestClimates

Intropicalrainforestclimates,theairisveryhumidandthe
landreceivesalargeamountofrain.Becauseofthewarm
Soilprofileforaforest temperatures,cropscanbegrownallyearlong!Thewarmsoil
temperaturealsoallowsdeadplantsandanimalstodecayeasily,
whichprovideshumustothesoil.Becauseofthis,wemaythink
thatthetropicalrainforestcontainsomeofthebestsoil.

Butinreality,thetropicalrainforestsoilsarenutrientpoor:

1.Theheavyraining[thatgoeson]inthisclimateleachimportantnutrientsfromthetopsoilinto ThisSriLankanforesthassome
deeperlayersofsoil,causingthetopsoiltobeextremelythin. prettybadsoil!
2.Lushvegetationhasagreatdemandfornutrients.Thenutrientsthataren'tleachedawayare
quicklytakenupbyplantsandtreesthatliveoffthesoil.

DesertClimates

Desertsbarelygetanyrain,whichcausesmanyproblems,suchasverylowratesofweatheringandless
abilitytosupportplant/animallife.Lowrateofweathering=soiliscreatedataslowerrate.

DeathValley
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Thoughbarelyanyrainfall,somewaterisavailablefromthegroundwater.Though,whengroundwater
seepstothesurface,thewaterevaporates.Whenthewaterevaporates,itleavesoffanymaterialsthat
weredissolvedinthewater.Often,thematerialsleftbehindarevarioustypesofsalts.Thesesaltscan
becometoxicwhentheyareconcentratedtoacertainpoint,whichcanpoisonplants.DeathValleyisan
exampleofthis.
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ArcticClimates

Arcticareashavelittletonoprecipitation.Inarcticclimates,chemicalweatheringoccursveryslowly
(possiblyduetothelackofrain!),whichmeanssoilformationoccursveryslowly.Slowsoilformation
=Thin,unabletosupportmanyplants.Inadditiontotheunfortunatemess,arcticclimateshavelow
soiltemperatures,whichmeansthedecompositionofplantsandanimalshappenslowly/ortheyjust
stopcompletely.Slowdecompositionlimitstheamountofhumusinthesoil,whichlimitsthenutrients
available[fortheplants].

TemperateForestandGrasslandClimates Thinsoilsincoldclimates

MuchoftheUShasatemperateclimate(usuallyinthe
midwest),whichhascoinedtheterm"breadbasket".Thisisbecausetemperatesoilsareoneofthebest
soilsyoucanfind:

Getenoughraintocauseahighlevelofchemicalweathering(remember,lotsofweathering=soil
createdatahighrate).
Frostaction(temperaturechanges),andasaresultoffrostaction=thick,fertilesoil.

SoilConservationTechniques
TemperatesoilsintheCzechRepublic
Inordertomaintainthefertilityofsoilandprotectthemfromerosionandnutrient,differenttechniques
havebeencreatedinordertofulfillthisneed:

ContourplowingAfarmerplowsacrosstheslopeofthehills,creatingrows[thatactasaseriesofdamsinsteadofaseriesofrivers].
TerracingSamemethodascontourplowing,butjustappliedontosteephills.
CovercropCropsthatrestorenutrientstothesoilthatisessentialforothercrops.
NotillfarmingProtectivetosoilsbypreventingerosionandmakingacover.

Inthe1900sinthesouthernpartoftheUS,thesoil[inthesouth]hadlacknutrientsbyfarmingonlyonecrop,whichwascotton.George
WashingtonCarverurgedfarmerstoplantsoybeansandpeanutsinsteadofcotton.Someplants,suchassoybeansandpeanuts,helpedrestore
essentialnutrientstothesoil.Theseplantsareknownascovercrops(mentionedabove).Thesecropsareplanedbetweenharveststoreplace
certainnutrients[neededforothercrops]andpreventerosion(byprovidingacoverfromwindandrain).

Thenthereiscroprotation,whichisprettymuchwhatitsoundslike.Changingthecropthatisbeingusedonacertainfield.

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