DR.

FE JAGAPE LAGAS

SOIL GENESIS AND SOIL FORMATION

Soil genesis deals with the factors and processes of soil formation. The soil formation is the
result of the interaction of the soil forming factors;
 Parent material
 Climate
 Topographic position or slope
 Time
The dominant processes in soil genesis are:
 The dominant processes in soil genesis are Mineral weathering
 Humification of organic matter
 Leaching and removal of soluble materials
 Translocation of colloids (mainly silicate, clays, humus, and iron and aluminum oxides)
The net effect of these processes is the development of soil horizons that, is the genesis
of the soil.

Pedology deals with the factors and processes of soil formation. It includes description and
interpretation of soil profiles, soil bodies (pedons), and patterns of soil on the surface of the earth. The
word “pedology” has been used as a synonyms for soil science and as another name for soil genesis, the
study of changes in soil bodies. Pedology, therefore, deals with the soil as a natural entity to be studied
as a” thing complete in itself” (Cline, 1961).
Pedogenesis (from the Greek: 'pedo- or pedon' meaning 'soil, earth' and genesis meaning 'origin, birth')
is the science and study of the processes that lead to the formation of soil (soil evolution) [1] and first
explored by the Russian geologist Vasily Dokuchaev (1846 – 1903), the so called grandfather of soil
science, who determined that soil formed over time as a consequence of climatic, mineral and biological
processes which he demonstrated using the soil forming equation:
Russian geologist Vasily Dokuchaev (1846 – 1903), the so called grandfather of soil science, who
determined that soil formed over time as a consequence of climatic, mineral and biological processes
which he demonstrated using the soil forming equation:
In 1941, the Swiss scientist Hans Jenny expanded Vasily Dokuchaev equation by adding
relief/topology as a factor and separating the biological processes into the fauna and flora coming
up with the equation:
Soil = f(C, PM, R, O, V,) x time (where C = climate, PM = parent material, R = relief/topology, O =
fauna, V = flora)
Factors of Soil Formation
Parent Material
Parent materials do not have to be rock.
Soil may developed from materials transported by wind, water or ice.
Soil properties such as texture, base saturation, including dominant clay minerals will depend on
the kind of parent material that will transform into soil.

2 kinds of parent material

1. Residual Parent material

 Developed directly from the bedrock.

Some common bedrock in the Philippines (basalt, andesite and different types of metamorphic
and sedimentary rocks.

2. Transported Parent Material

4 groups of transported parent materials:

1. Water
Parent material deposited by moving water is called alluvium. Alluvial soil can have
many different strata of water deposits.
Alluvial deposits that occur where the streams frequently floods over then are called flood
plains.

2. Wind

These are the volcanic ash ejected during major volcanic eruptions.
3. Gravity

1. Materials deposited at the foot of a slope are called colluvium. This material is
brought downslope by gravity.
2. Most soils have developed from sediments that were transported by water, ice
or gravity.
3. Colluvial sediments occur at the base of steep slopes where gravity is the
dominant force. Causing movement and sedimentation.
4. Common and are important parent material in mountainous areas.

5. Alluvial – widespread existence of streams and rivers

-The most extensive area of alluvial sediments in the United States
occurs along the Mississippi River.

 Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plains

 Marine origin. Derived from the weathered products of the adjacent
highlands that were deposited when the area was submerged below the
sea.
 Calcareous clays rich in smectite were deposited = soils developed with
high clay content and great expansion and contraction during alternate
wet and dry season.
 Soils developed in this kind of parent material in Texas, Mississippi and
Alabama
 Quartz and kaolinite – represent the “end products” of highly
weathered sediments and sediments
4. Ice
Sediments transported by ice are generally referred to as Glacial Drift. Glacier deposited
parent material does not exist in the Philippines.
Figure 1. The development of a soil is influenced by five interrelated factors: organisms, topography,
time, parent material, and climate.

CLIMATE

Major components of soil formation:

1. Temperature
As the mean annual temperature increases, the weathering of rocks and minerals will be faster.
For every 10oC rise in temperature, the rate of biochemical reactions doubles.
Tropical soils will weather faster because the chemical reactions will take place faster and the
reactions will occur throughout the year.

2. Rainfall/Precipitation - Areas with more rainfall will have greater weathering and greater leaching.
However, the amount of evapotranspiration has to be accounted for.
Areas that are cool and wet will have more leaching compared to areas that are hot and wet,
because more of the rainfall in a hot, wet climate evaporates back into the atmosphere before
leaching can occur.

3. Organism
 The organisms living in and on the soil respond to the climate of the area.
 Influence the soil development by their mixing activities.
 The mixing of the soil by organisms is called bioturbation.

For forested areas like diptherocarp forest, soils develops a thin surface horizon, a leached, light
colored zone below the surface and an accumulation zone that is often brown or red color.
 Under grassland will have a thick, black surface horizon, a result of thick grassland roots
contributing large amounts of organic matter to the surface soil, making it black.

In summary, climate affects the amount of leaching that takes place in the soil and the speed
with which soil horizons develop. Vegetation affects the thickness and color of the surface
horizons.

Relief/Topography

This is related to the soil’s position in the landscape

Topography refers to the shape or contour of the land surface. Some soils occur on the summit of
a hill, some on the backslope, and some on the footslope.

Summit
Shoulder

Backslope

Footslope

Figure 2. Slope Profile

In general soils at the summit and shoulder develop horizons the fastest. Soils on the backslope develop
slower because:

 Rainfall will run off this slope position faster

 There will be more soil erosion
 And there will be less leaching.

At the footslope position the soils will collect sediment from upslope that can bury the horizons
and slow down their development.

Another complicating factor is the depth of the water table in relation to slope position.

 Deep water table considered well drained

 As water table goes up closer to the soil surface drainage becomes poor to very poor.
 Soil with poor drainage will show redoximorphic features and are reflected in the soil as
splotches of red or gray color and are called mottles.
 For very poorly drained soils the entire soil below the dark surface will be gray in color.
 This condition implies that most of the iron has been reduced due to the low O2 levels.

Time as a Soil Forming Factor

 Soils are products of evolution, and soil properties

  Are a function of time or soil age. The age of a soil is expressed by its degree
development

 And not the absolute number of years.

 Soils have a life cycle - represented by various stages of development (minimal,
moderately and intensively weathered soils).

Considered as the length of time in years since the land surface became stable,
 Thus enabling the soil development to proceed.
 The development depends on the intensity of the other active soil forming factors of
climate and organisms, and how topography and parent material mostly their effect.

In general the age of a soil is not considered in years but how much development the soil
has undergone.
 A horizons can develop in a few decades
 A and C horizons can develop in 100 years or less
 Bw horizon involves changes in color and/or structure and requires 100 to 1,000
years
 Soils with an A - Bw - C horizon sequence, therefore, require commonly several
hundred years for development
 Bt horizon – depends on clay formation within the soil and significant
translocation of clay
These processes usually require a minimum of several thousand years.
 A-E-Bt-C horizon sequence need about 5,000 to 10,000 years to form under
favorable conditions.
 Intensively weathered soils containing a high content of kaolinite and oxides of
iron and aluminum is approximately 100,000 years. Some of these soils in the
tropics are more than a million years old.
 Young soils have minimal soil development and few horizons
 Old soils have well-developed horizons.

Conditions that hasten the rate of soil development are:

 Permeable, unconsolidated parent material.
 Warm, humid, climate
 Forest vegetation
 Summit or backslope landscape position that is well drained.

Conditions that retard soil development are:

 Impermeable, hard, consolidated parent material.

 Cold, dry climate
 Grassland vegetation
 Steeply sloping backslope or shoulders.
How many years does it take for a soil to form? Soil scientists have measured the age of
many soils and have a wide range of rates of soil formation. A one meter thick soil
developed from loess in temperate country is 8,000 years, while a meter thick soil in
tropical country took 75,000 years to form.
 In general the following happens with time for a soil:
 Thicker horizons that sink deeper into the parent material
 Increased iron accumulation making the soils redder
 Increased clay content
 Increased acidity
 Leaching of nutrients so soils are less fertile

Figure 3. Horizon differentiation of soil with time

Principal Pedogenic Processes

A large number of processes are responsible for the formation of soils. This fact is evident by the large
number of different types of soils that have been classified by soil scientists. However, at the macro-scale
we can suggest that there are five main principal pedogenic processes acting on soils. These processes
are laterization, podzolization, calcification, salinization, and gleization.

Laterization - is a pedogenic process common to soils found in tropical and subtropical environments.
High temperatures and heavy precipitation result in the rapid weathering of rocks and minerals.
Movements of large amounts of water through the soil cause eluviation and leaching to occur. Almost all
of the byproducts of weathering, very simple small compounds or nutrient ions, are translocated out of
the soil profile by leaching if not taken up by plants for nutrition. The two exemptions to this process are
iron and aluminum compounds. Iron oxides give tropical soils their unique reddish coloring. Heavy
leaching also causes these soils to have an acidic pH because of the net loss of base cations.

Podzolization – is associated with humid cold mid-latitude climates and coniferous vegetation.
Decomposition of coniferous litter and heavy summer precipitation create a soil solution that is strongly
acidic. This acidic soil solution enhances the processes of eluviation and leaching causing the removal of
soluble base cations and aluminum and iron compounds from the A horizon. This process creates a sub-
layer in the A horizon that is white to gray in color and composed of silica sand.

Calcification - occurs when evapotranspiration exceeds precipitation causing the upward movement of
dissolved alkaline salts from the groundwater. At the same time, the movement of rain water causes a
downward movement of the salts. The net result is the deposition of the translocated cations in the B
horizon. In some cases, these deposits can form a hard layer called caliche. The most common substance
involved in this process is calcium carbonate. Calcification is common in the prairie grasslands.

Salinization - is a process that functions in the similar way to calcification. It differs from calcification in
that the salt deposits occur at or very near the soil surface. Salinization also takes place in much drier
climates.

Gleization - is a pedogenic process associated with poor drainage. This process involves the accumulations
of organic matter in the upper layers of the soil. In lower horizons, mineral layers are stained blue-gray
because of the chemical reduction of iron.

NAMING SOIL HORIZONS

Soil horizon, a soils layer to the earth’s surface. Horizons are exposed in soil profile. Horizons are
distinguished on the basis of their physical, chemical and biological properties. Example of distinguishing
properties:

 Depth
 Texture
 Structure
 pH
 Color
 Consistency (degree of cohesion)
 Boundary between horizons (abrupt, wavy, diffuse, irregular)
 Presence of mottles spots or blotches of different color and size interspersed with the
regular color
 Concretions (grains or pellets that are cemented often by calcium carbonate or iron oxide)
 Iron content
 Organic matter content
 Cation exchange capacity

One capital letter is used to designate master horizons (A, B, C) and two are used for transitional
horizons (AB, BC). Lower case subscript are used to subdivide master and transitional horizons (Bt, Ap)
and to designate important horizon properties. Master horizons with two or more subordinate horizons
keep the identical letter identification and are numbered consecutively; for example A1, A2, Bt1, Bt2.

There are 5 master horizons in the soil profile. Not all soil profiles contain all 5 horizons; and so,
soil profiles differ from one location to another. The 5 master horizons are represented by the letters: O,
A, E, B, and C. The master horizons may be followed by a subscript to make further distinctions between
differences within one master horizon.

The ability to correctly name soil horizons requires that the person be part “detective”
And part “artist”. The detective part requires that the person uses all the soil morphological clues (color,
texture, structure, etc.) to correctly determine the influence of the soil forming factors and the pedogenic
process that have acted on the parent material. Then the person puts all the clues together to make their
interpretation of what they are seeing.

Not all soil scientists will write the exact same soil profile description, because their previous
experiences will have been different, just like all artists will not paint the same picture when looking at
the same landscape scene. However, you will see very similar descriptions that could be duplicated by
another scientist.

As you start gaining experience with naming the horizons for soil profiles, you will become more
adept at correctly using all of the clues to write a correct “Soil Profile Description.”

Surface Horizons

Surface soil horizons are mainly influenced by the addition of organic matter. The organic matter
that is added to a soil will first be decomposed. Gradually organisms in the soil will begin to decompose
the litter until the original material Is no longer recognizable. Eventually the organic matter is converted
into humus so it becomes colloidal in size and it coats the mineral particles of the soil.

O horizon

O-horizons are all organic matter and are mainly found in forest soils where the yearly addition
of leaves builds up a layer of undecomposed leaves. In fact, the O horizon contains very little mineral
soil.

The i subscript, Oi horizons, would be mainly undecomposed plant parts. The Oe horizon would
be moderate decomposition, and the Oa horizon would be almost completely decomposed.

Besides being in the leaf litter of forested soils, O horizons can also be found in the peat dogs of
swamps and wetlands.

A horizon

The A horizon is a mineral horizon that is dark in color due to the incorporation of decomposed
organic matter, which coats the mineral soil particles with colloidal size organic matter. In general, the
darker the mineral soil, the greater the percent organic matter. Soils that develop under grassland will
have 4 to 5% organic matter in the A horizon for a depth of 25 cm or more. When A horizon is plowed, it
is called an Ap horizon.

The AB horizon is a transition horizon that has characteristics like the A and B, but more like the
A; thus, it is called an AB.
Surface Horizons

Subsurface horizons develop due to translocation, transformations and losses. These are zones of
accumulations or changes in the parent material where color or structure develop.

E horizon

The E horizon develops when materials are eluviated out of a zone in the soil. The effect of this is
to remove the organic matter and iron out of this zone, which causes it to be the lighter in color than the
horizons above or below it. E horizons are found mainly in forested soils. This horizon is called a zone of
eluviation. Not all soils have E horizons.

B horizon

Below the E horizon or A horizons, there are zones of illuviation or accumulations. These are called
B horizons. This kind of B horizon is called a Bt, and is a zone of illuviation of clay particles that moved
from overlying horizons.

In some acid sandy soils where there is not very much clay, the significant translocation of iron,
humus and aluminum takes place very rapidly. Often the vegetation is evergreen forest that contributes
very acid O layer. Heavy leaching accompanying the movement of organic acid induced E horizon
development. The development of E horizon is often accompanied by the development of the zone of
illuviation which is labeled as Bhs horizon (h for humus and s for iron and aluminum). The Bhs horizon is
often dark red in color and easily recognized in the field.

Another example of a B horizon is where the soil has a minimal amount of illuviation. However,
the soil undergoes significant transformations and develops different color and structure from the C
horizon or parent material. This is called a Bw horizon.

The Bw horizon does not have enough clay accumulation to be a Bt, but is different from the
parent material. The Bk horizon is a zone of accumulation, but instead of clay, calcium carbonate (CaCO3)
is accumulating (k). Calcium carbonate can be identified in a soil profile because it is very light in color
and reacts with a 10% solution of HCl to give off CO2 as a gas or the soil “bubbles”. The parent material
for this soil is high in CaCO3.

The solum describes the A and B horizons (or the zone of pedogenic activity) and does not include
the C horizon.

C horizon

C horizons are outside the zone of “pedogenesis” (soil development). C Horizons are little altered
by the soil forming processes. C horizons are referred as the parent material of the soil.

Soil scientists use their scientific knowledge of the soil and their grasp of soil forming factors to
“describe” the soil in the field. There is considerable “art” in describing soils or the interpretation of all
the facts to arrive at a depiction of the soil. Artists over the years have used their visual skills to “depict”
the soil.
Recognized transitional horizons

AB – A horizon transitional between A and B, dominated by properties characteristic of an overlying

horizon.

BA – A horizon transitional between A and B , dominated by properties characteristic of an overlying B

horizon.

AC - A horizon transitional between A and C, dominated by properties characteristic of an A horizon.

Common in soils lacking a B horizon
EB – A horizon transitional between E and B, dominated by properties characteristic of an overlying E
horizon.
BE – A horizon transitional between E and B, dominated by properties characteristic of an underlying B
horizon.
BC – A horizon transitional between B and C, dominated by properties characteristic of an overlying B
horizon

Additional symbols used in combination with the previously described horizon designations. These
give more detailed information about the composition of a soil horizon.

a = Organic material which is highly decomposed

b = A buried soil layer
c = Concretions cemented materials harder than lime
e = Organic material at a transitional stage of decomposition
f = frozen ground
g = A water-logged (gleyed) layer
h = an accumulation of illuvial humus
I = slightly decomposed organic matter
k = an accumulation of calcium carbonate
m = an indurated layer, or hardpan, due to silication or calcification
n = Accumulation of sodium as an exchangeable ion
o = Accumulation of sesquioxides
p = A layer disturbed by plowing
q = Accumulation of silica
r = Weathered bedrock
s = an accumulation of illuvial iron
t = an accumulation of illuvial clay
v = Plinthite
w = Color development where illuvial material is absent
x = A fragipan
y = an accumulation of gypsum
z = an accumulation of soluble salts
Figure 4. A portrayal of the horizons within the profile of a typical forest soil. Forests soils tend to have 5
layers, including a surface layer of decomposing plant debris, as well of a zone of leaching.
Source: http://courses.missouristate.edu/ejm893f/creative/glg110/Weathering.html
Figure 5. Grassland soil profile. This soil profile has a surface horizon that has high levels of organic matter.
It may be representative of a fertile grassland soil.
Source: http://soils.usda.gov/education/resources/k_12/lessons/profile/

The soil profile develops over time as the result of the weathering of minerals and deposition of
organic matter. The following link from North Carolina States University provides a brief animation of the
horizon development process within the soil
profile:http://courses.soil.ncsu.edu/resources/soil_classification_genesis/soil_formation/soil_transfo
rm.s

Prepared by:

ANTHONY B. VARON, L.Agr.

Instructor