Essay about Soil Profile - 589 Words.
Soil profile is the vertical section of soil showing the various layers from the surface to the unaffected parent material. The soil contains three main layers. The surface soil or that layer of soil at the top which is liable to leaching and from which some soil constituents have been removed is known as horizon A or the horizon of eluviation.
Here is your sample essay on Soil. Article Shared By.. The vertical section of the soil from A horizon to the bed rock is called soil profile. While in residual soil a horizon may just overlie its bed rock same may not be true in case of drift (alluvial) soil.. If three or four types are mixed together the loam becomes very complex. Most.
Soil Profile There are different types of soil, each with its own set of characteristics. Dig down deep into any soil, and you’ll see that it is made of layers, or horizons (O, A, E, B, C, R). Put the horizons together, and they form a soil profile. Like a biography, each profile tells a story about the life of a soil.
The arrangement of these horizons in a soil is known as a soil profile. Soil scientists, who are also called pedologists, observe and describe soil profiles and soil horizons to classify and interpret the soil for various uses. Soil horizons differ in a number of easily seen soil properties such as color, texture, structure, and thickness.
Loamy Soil Loam is the fourth type of soil. It is a combination of sand, silt, and clay such that the beneficial properties from each is included. For instance, it has the ability to retain moisture and nutrients, hence, it is more suitable for farming.
The soil profile is somewhat like the soil's fingerprint, and it will differ from other soil samples based on factors like its color, texture, structure and thickness, as well as its chemical composition. Each layer of a soil profile is referred to as a soil horizon. These horizons are identified by letters.
Soils with a good structure through the soil profile have lots of spaces or pores between aggregates with evidence of good root growth and biological activity such as earthworms. Soils with few pores and fissures are said to be compacted.
A soil profile is usually studied to a depth of 3 to 5 feet. To see the soil profile, soil cores may be taken or holes dug to expose the pro-file. A soil core or auger allows the extraction of a cylinder of soil for study. CHANGES TO THE SOIL PROFILE As a soil ages, horizontal layers develop and changes result. The causes of these changes.
What is Soil Profile Soil formation is the combined result of physical, chemical and biological processes under certain environmental conditions. The soil is a combination of biotic and abiotic components.
Importance (Functions) of soils Soils are essential for life, in the sense that they provide the medium for plant growth, habitat for many insects and other organisms, act as a filtration system for surface water, carbon store and maintenance of atmospheric gases.
Types of soil Sandy Soils Sandy soils are free draining, with the largest, but fine and hard particles. It has a gritty feel. It does not bind very well. It is poor in holding water and easily warms up in the spring season. Sandy soils are very low in nutrients, as they are usually washed away.
In our experience, the sedimentary textural classification defined by Pettijohn (1975) is more practical for description of paleosol texture than the textural classes utilized in modern soils research because a paleosol profile is a type of sediment or sedimentary rock that no longer has all of the textural attributes that are appropriate for the operational definitions employed in soil science.
Although soil colour can be an important diagnostic tool for analysing a soil profile, one must be cautious about calling a red layer a B horizon. The original parent material, if rich in iron, may produce a very red soil even when there has been relatively little soil profile development.
