Lecture 1

Introduction to soil

From Islamic perspective

Human being made of soil

Soil the cleanest material on earth
Introduction to soil science
 SOIL ???

• Soil is defined as the top layer of the earth’s crust and is made
up of mineral particles, organic matter, water, air and living
organisms. Soil is a multiphasic and extremely dynamic
system, with numerous functions: it is the main producer of
biomass and raw material, it supports biodiversity
development (habitat, species, etc.), it provides the main
source of carbon, and plays a fundamental role in human
activities and in the survival of the ecosystem.
 Soil Science

What is pedology?

•The study of soil –look at soil formation, soil

classification, and soil mapping.

Pedosphere – soil environment

Pedologist – soil scientist
 Soil genesis

• The study of soil origin with special reference to soil

forming factors responsible for the development of the
solum or true soil
• Soil is a dynamic, natural body composed of mineral and
organic solids, gases, liquids and living organisms which
can serve as a medium for plant growth
Soil Interface of various environmental bodies
 Medium for plant growth
List of things that plants obtain from the soils in which their
roots proliferate:

Physical support
Air
Water
Temperature moderation
Protection from toxin
Nutrients elements
Physical support
 Physical Support
• Provide anchoring support for plant
roots system .
Water and air exchange
 Temperature moderation

Soil is an insulator
Soil buffer high and low temperature
Buffering increase with depth
Temperatures in more than 30oC are lethal
 Nutrients Elements
• An important function of soil is to store
and supply nutrients to plants.
• The ability to perform this function is
referred to as soil fertility.
• The clay and organic matter (OM) content
of a soil directly influence its fertility.
– Greater clay and OM content will generally lead
to greater soil fertility.
– The soil which has a dark brown to black color,
indicating abundant OM accumulation, and a
highly fertile soil.
• Two types of nutrients:-
 Protection from toxin
There are many potential sources of phytotoxins in
soil resulted from man activity or other organism.
Phytotoxin is substances that are toxic to plant
growth. Example of the pytotoxins are trace metal
(excess), pesticide (excess), salinity, fertilizers
(excess) and etc.
Soil provide detoxify phytotoxins through various
reaction mechanism such as by decomposing or
adsorbing toxin, or by suppressing toxin induce
organic.
Physical Properties of Soil

The origin of soil

 The origin of soil
Soil From Rocks
• Where does Soil Come
From?
• Soil is everywhere!
• But how does it
develop?
• What causes one soil
to be productive and
another to be poor?
• What are the rocks
doing in this soil?
 Soil is
• The soil profile
• And the soil we
pick up to feel
consisting of sand,
silt, clay particles
and decomposed
organic matter.
 Soil Texture

• Soil texture is determined by separating

the amount of sand, silt and clay in a soil
and determining the % of each. We will
learn about this in Week 2.
• This mineral part of the soil or the Sand,
Silt and Clay particles are from the
weathering of Rocks and Minerals.
• Where have you been aware of the rocks
that were near the surface of the earth?
 Rocks
Weather to
Soil
• Weathering is the
process by which all
rocks at the earth's epilithic
surface get broken
down.
• Weathering occurs
by both chemical
(decomposition) and endolithic
mechanical
processes
(disintegration).
 Soil forming factors
Hans Jenny (1899-1992) formalized an equation
to describe the basic factors that drive
geographic variability and formation of soil:

Soil = a function of {Cl.O.R.P.T}

 Soil forming factors

Where;
Cl= climate (temperature and moisture)
O = organisms (biological process including living and
dead organisms, plants and soil microorganisms being the
main players)
R = relief (topography, slope, lanscape)
P = parent material (texture, primary mineralogy)
T = time (time since last disturbance).
 Rock Weathering
• Rock weathering
Takes place in-situ
(in place)
• It differs from
erosion which
involves removal
of material away
from a site.
 Physical Weathering
• Physical weathering - Rocks
get broken into pieces but
its chemical composition
remains unchanged.
• Processes of
Phys.Weathering
• 1) Freeze / thaw
weathering - occurs when chasmolithic
temperature freezes at
night and rises during the
day. Water expands when
frozen which forces rocks
open.
• 2) Biological weathering _
Roots of plants grow into
cracks and force cracks
open.
 Physical Weathering Processes (cont.)
• 3) Exfoliation – or
Unloading - when
rock at earth's
surface is worn
away.
• After a rock that
has formed deep in
the earth is
exposed at the
surface it expands
and gradually
breaks into sheets.
 Chemical Weathering
• Chemical weathering -
Rock broken down by
chemical change - water
always plays a part. For
Example:
• Carbon dioxide dissolves
in rain water forming
carbonic acid which
dissolves limestone rock
which is carried away in
solution as calcium
hydrogen carbonate.
• Chemical weathering is
faster for limestone
than sandstone and is
speeded up by heat.
 Chemical Weathering
• Chemical
weathering occurs
fastest at the
sharp edges of
rocks as they have
a large surface and
less volume so the
chemical reactions
are faster.
• Gradually the sharp
edges become
rounded.
 Chemical Weathering
• Chemical
weathering
produces clays on
which vegetation
can grow.
• A mixture of dead
vegetation, clay,
rock fragments of
sand and silt size
particles produces
soil.
 A residual soil from limestone

• This soil is weathering

from limestone bedrock.
• Limestone is CaCO3
• The 18 inches of soil
present here are from
the impurities in the rock
and the additions of soil
particles by wind to the
surface of the soil.
• Prairie grass roots gave
the soil a dark color.

Explain formation of caves and sinkholes??????

 Chemical Weathering

• Common chemical
weathering
processes are:
hydrolysis,
hydration,
dissolution,
carbonation and
oxidation.
• Chemical
weathering tends
to weaken rock,
thereby making it
easier to break.
 Hydration

Water is incorporated into the chemical structure of the

mineral, thus change chemical properties.

Examples:
Hematite Fe2O3 to be Fe2O3.2H2O
Gypsum CaSO4 to be CaSO4.2H2O
 Hydrolysis
•In the process water molecules ionized to become H+ and OH-1
•H+ may replace a cation such as K+ in the mineral structure,
while the K+ can be absorbed onto cation exchange sites of soil.
•Likewise silicic acid H4SiO4 that is formed can slowly leach or
react to form secondary minerals in the soil.

Notes:
Remember that weathering can create as well as destroy
compounds in soil.
 Dissolution

Dissolution occurs in some minerals when water

hydrates the cations and anions until they begin to
dissociate from one another and become surrounded by
water molecules.
 Carbonation and other acid reactions

 Gas CO2 dissolved in water to form carbonic acid H2CO3

which increase the hydrolysis of mineralizable compounds
like dolomite, gypsum and limestone.
 NOx and SOx released by coal combustion can oxidize in the
atmosphere and precipitate as nitric and sulfuric acid.
 Oxidation -Reduction
• Compounds such as Fe, Mn, and S change their oxidation
state they can influence solubility of the minerals that
contain them.
• Oxidation of Fe (II) can destabilise mineral because
different oxidation state of metal having different
solubility.
 Weathering
• Physical and chemical
weathering occur
together.
• Physical breaks rocks
into pieces so more
surface is exposed to
chemical weathering
which breaks it down
further.
 Weathering

• Weathering is
controlled largely by
climate. The more
water available, the
more likely that
chemical processes can
proceed.
• Additionally, in warm
temperatures
chemical weathering
can proceed even
faster.
 Weathering

• In arid climates
weathering processes
occur very slowly
because of the lack of
water.
• Mechanical weathering
will be the dominant
process in arid
climates;
• however, because
physical weathering
relies on chemical
weathering, it will also
be quite slow
 Weathering of
rocks produces
soil particles

• By looking at the
sand grains, we
can determine
the kind of rocks
that physically
weathered to
make the sand.
 Sands from around the world

• Italy
• Hawaii
• Madeline
Is.
Wisconsin
• St. Peter
Sandstone,
St. Paul,
MN
Silt Grains- The intermediate size soil particle
• In this sediment
sample, the grains are
a little smaller than in
the sand photos. They
look bigger due to
magnification.
• Silt-sized particles
have diameters
between 0.05 mm to
0.002 mm
• Most Silt grains are
quartz because the
less resistant minerals
have been completely
broken down.
• Silt feels very smooth.
 Silt in Soap?
• Glacier Silt
Scrubbie
• A moderately
abrasive bar made
with silt from the
Mendenhall Glacier,
Designed to remove
dirt, help cut
grease, and leave
hands smooth.
 Glacial Flour

• After the
glacier grinds up
the rock into
silt size
particles, the
wind can pick up
the glacial flour
(silt) and blow it
around.
• The resulting
deposit of silt is
called “LOESS”
(sounds like us)
 LOESS
• Loess in the U.S. is derived
from glacial outwash. The
loess was blown directly
from glacial
deposits, and also carried by
rivers to be blown off the
flood plains.

• The loess in W. Wi. & E. MN

is thick and is absent in E.Wi.
& cent. Mn partly
because the loess
blanket
naturally tapers, but also
because most areas without
loess were still ice-covered at
the time, so loess was

intermingled with other

materials.
 Silt in Water

• Silt in water will

remain
suspended until
the water is
moving very
slowly.
• Silt causes
water turbidity
and can harm
fish and stream
quality.
 Loess in Mississippi
• The loess deposits
at Vicksburg
Mississippi are
believed to be
10,000 to possibly
100,000 years old.
• Fossils of
vertebrate animals
have been found
buried in the loess
and include
mastodon, horse,
tiger, bear, deer,
and bison.
 Loess in China is indirectly derived from glacial outwash, which is
carried into the desert lowlands by streams. Wind transports loess
from the deserts, and loess is in turn redeposited by the rivers.
 Clay Particles – The smallest soil particle
• In this sample, the flakey
nature of clay-sized
sediments is evident.
• Clay is the last of the
sediments to be deposited by
a stream due to its small
grain size.
• Clay size particles are made
by a recombination of
minerals or synthesis from
elements, not from grinding
up of silt particles.
• Clays have diameters that are
smaller than 0.002 mm.
• Soils that are Clay Soils
high in clay
have unique
properties:
• Very sticky
when wet and
very hard when
dry.
• What are the rocks
doing in this soil?
• The rocks are waiting
to be broken down into
sand grains, later into
silt grains, and maybe
eventually chemically
weathered into clay
particles if the
weathering process has
enough time and the
right environment.