Soil properties

A. Texture
B. Adhesive-Cohesive properties
(Plasticity/Stickiness)
C. Structure
D. Color
E. Density


A. Texture
Relative proportion of sand, silt, clay sized
particles in a soil

Does not change (in human lifetime)

Most important property for agricultural and
engineering uses
Fine earth fraction only

Does not include coarse fragments:

Boulders: > 600 mm
Stones: 250 600
Cobbles: 75 250
Gravels : 2 - 75
USDA fine earth fraction (soil separates):

Sand 0.05 2.0 mm
Very coarse 1.0 2.0
Coarse 0.5 1.0
Medium 0.25 0.5
Fine 0.1 0.25
Very fine 0.05 0.1

Silt 0.05 0.002
Clay <0.002



sand
Naked eye
Gritty
Predominantly quartz
Round

silt
Light microscope
Cannot feel individual grains; slippery
Predominantly quartz and other primary
minerals
In between round and flat
clay
Electron microscope
Wide variety of minerals
Flat

Properties that vary with particle size:

Surface area
Geometry of pore spaces
Adhesive / Cohesive properties;
Plasticity / Stickiness

Surface area
(site of water adsorption, gas adsorption, mineral
weathering, nutrients)

Very coarse sand:
Particles per gram = 90
Surface area = 11 cm
2
/ gm


Clay :
Particles per gram = 90,260,853,000
Surface area = 8,000,000 cm
2
/gm
Pore space geometry
Sand has large pores between grains
Highly permeable

Silt has relatively small pores
Less permeable

Clay has very small pore spaces
Least permeable


B.Adhesive/Cohesive properties
Adhesion: force with which something
clings to other surfaces
Soil and water

Cohesion: force with which something
clings to itself
Soil particles


Plasticity/Stickiness

Plasticity is ability to be molded;
force required to deform soil in wet pliable
condition

Make a worm of soil; see how thin the worm can
be and still support its own weight on end

Indicates cohesiveness


Stickiness is force required to pull soil apart
when wetted (beyond plastic)

Press moist soil between thumb and forefinger
and see how much sticks to fingers

Indicates adhesiveness

Shape governs extent of contact between
adhering and cohering surfaces

Greatest contact occurs when flat surfaces
lie parallel to one another (as in clay)

e.g. cohesiveness makes some clays turn into
hard clods when dry and become very sticky when
wet
Sand has a large particle size and round
shape

Limited contact with other surfaces
not sticky, not plastic

Silt is more cohesive and adhesive than
sand, but has only limited plasticity and
stickiness

Can be crushed when dry


C. Structure
Way in which soil particles are assembled
in aggregate form

Results from pedogenic processes

Structural unit is ped
e.g., blocky soil has blocks as peds
Ped: < cm to several cm
Structures:
1. Platy: flat horizontal units; diverse sizes

2. Prismlike: tall peds with flat sides

Prismatic: flat tops

Columnar: rounded tops
3. Blocky

Angular: flat faces, sharp corners

Subangular: faces and corners are
rounded
Angular blocky
Subangular blocky
columnar
prismatic
4. Granular: roughly spherical; porous


5. wedge-shaped peds

form in clays where cracking and swelling
cause soils to slide along planes
6. Structureless

single-grained

massive
Importance of structure

Movement of air and water

Root penetration
What gives structure to soil?
Organic gums (HUMUS!)
Decay products
Shrink and crack on drying
Shrink-swell clays
Roots
Freeze/thaw cycles
Soil animals




Pan structures
Dense layers, diverse origins
1. Clay pan
Clay accumulation; usually B
2. Duripan
cemented by ppt silica , iron oxides, and/or
CaCO
3

3. Fragipan
hard, brittle
dense and compact, but breaks apart when
taken out
4. Caliche
white layer of CaCO
3
(soft or hard); arid
near surface




5. Plinthite (laterite)
sesquioxides, usually B
tropical, weathered
soft when wet; brick hard when dry

6. Plowpan
compaction from weight of implements


Clay pan
duripan
fragipan
caliche
plinthite
Plow pan
Plow pan
Structural stability
Ability of soil to resist physical breakdown
Maintaining structure is desirable for soil health
Keeps surface well-granulated
Aeration, water penetration, seedling emergence

Destroyed by machinery, animals,
mountain bikes, etc.



puddling
Soil loses structure; becomes massive
Causes:
Compaction
Cultivation
Rain on exposed soil
Type of ions is important
High valence cations (Ca
+2
Mg
+2
Al
+3
)
Best bonding
Single valence (Na
+
)
Weak bonding
Can improve puddled soils by replacing Na with Ca
D. Soil Color
Munsell chart

Hue: spectral color (red, yellow, blue)
Value: lightness or darkness
Chroma: strength/purity




Color indicates:

Extent of weathering
Amount & distribution of OM
State of aeration
Extent of weathering

Secondary iron oxides, manganese oxides
Red, yellow, brown
Coatings of iron oxides around other particles:
light brown, buff
Organic matter

dark
State of aeration
Poor aeration
Iron and manganese assume reduced forms
Bluish, grey
REDOX DEPLETIONS
Good aeration
Iron and manganese oxidize
Bright colored oxide coating on minerals
REDOX CONCENTRATIONS

mottling is old term



Poorly aerated soils
reduced forms of iron and manganese
Fe
+2
, Mn
+2

Reduced iron is soluble; moves through soil,
removing red, leaving gray, low chroma colors
(redox depletions)

Reduced manganese : hard black concretions
Well-aerated soils
Oxidized forms of iron and manganese
Fe
+3
Mn
+4


Fe precipitates as Fe
+3
in aerobic zones or
during dry periods

Reddish brown to orange (redox
concentrations)
Plate 26 Redox concentrations (red) and depletions (gray) in a Btg horizon
from an Aquic Paleudalf.
Plate 16 A soil catena or toposequence in central Zimbabwe. Redder
colors indicate better internal drainage. Inset: B-horizon clods from each
soil in the catena.
Plate 21 Effect of poor drainage on soil color. Gray colors and red redox
concentrations in the B horizons of a Plinthaquic Paleudalf.
Manganese concretions
E. Density
(Mass / volume)

Particle density
Bulk Density
Particle Density

Weight/volume of soil particles
Depends on minerals present

Average = 2.65 g/ml
for soils from silicate minerals
Particle density of iron oxides = 4 g/ml

Procedure: Weigh soil; pour into known volume of water;
record volume change


Bulk Density
Wgt / vol of whole soil
Volume includes pore space

Depends on particle density and
proportionate volume of solid particles and
pore space





Procedure: Use bulk density
sampler
Cylindrical core sampler of known volume
Does not compress soil
Oven dry and weigh soil
B.D. = dry wgt soil / volume of sampler


Used to gauge effects of machinery, etc. on
soil COMPACTION

Engineers need compacted soils for road
fill and earthen dams

Porosity
amount of total pore space

If mineral comp. of two soils is similar, bulk
densities vary because of porosity differences
Texture affects porosity:

Coarse texture
Larger but FEWER pores
Low porosity
High bulk density

Fine texture
Smaller but MORE pores
High porosity
Low bulk density