Explain the major factors responsible for the formation of soil?
Answers
Answer:
factors responsible for the formation of soil:-
1. Parent Material: It is deposited by streams or derived from in-situ weathering. In this stage, soil inherits many properties like the mineral composition, the colour, the particle size and the chemical elements. For example- Black soil derived its colour from lava rock
2.Climate: It is one of the important factors in the formation of soil because it affects the rate of weathering of the parent rock.
3.Role of precipitation: The variability in the precipitation modified the composition of the soil. For Example- Areas with little rainfall with high rate of evaporation led to the accumulation of salts in the soil.
4.Role of temperature: It is also play important role because fluctuations in temperature causes shrinking and swelling, frost action and general weathering in soils.
5.Time: The formation of the soil is not one day process but requires many years to form. Younger soils have some characteristics from their parent material, but as they age, the addition of organic matter, exposure to moisture and other environmental factors may change its features.
Answer:
Soils are formed through the interaction of five major factors: time, climate, parent material, topography and relief, and organisms. The relative influence of each factor varies from place to place, but the combination of all five factors normally determines the kind of soil developing in any given place.
Explanation:
Time:
The formation of soils is a continuing process and generally takes several thousand years for significant changes to take place. The soils of Plymouth County began to develop immediately after the ice retreat of the last glaciation (Pleistocene), approximately 14,000 years ago. The soils are considered to be relatively young soils with slight alteration of parent material and weak soil horizon development. Most of the soil orders mapped in Plymouth County are Inceptisols, Entisols, and Spodosols.
Climate:
Climate, particularly temperature, precipitation and frost action have a profound influence on the soil forming processes which occur within a region.
Parent Material:
Parent material is the unconsolidated mineral and organic deposits in which soils are developing. It determines the mineralogical composition and contributes largely to the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil. The kind of parent material also influences the rate at which soil forming processes take place.
Due to the effects of the Wisconsinan glaciation, insufficient time has elapsed to significantly alter the glacial deposits. The influence of parent material is very apparent in the soils of Plymouth County. Parent material is roughly divided into two broad groups; glacial (Late Pleistocene) deposits and post glacial (Holocene) deposits. There are four general types of glacial deposits recognized in the survey area, they are; till, fluvial, lacustrine, and ice-contact deposits. Post glacial deposits are sediments which were deposited after the last glacial period which ended approximately 10,000 years ago. Post glacial deposits recognized in the survey area include, eolian silts and sands, alluvial (floodplain) deposits, freshwater and marine organic deposits, and coastal beaches and sand dunes desposits.
Glacial fluvial (outwash) material is stratified sand and gravel deposited by glacial meltwater streams. Soils that have developed in glacial outwash have a sandy or gravelly, loose, very permeable substratum. Glacial fluvial deposits are associated with aquifer recharge areas. Soils commonly mapped in glacial outwash areas include Carver, Hinckley and Merrimac soils.
Ice contact deposits are varied ranging from till to bouldery sand and gravel. These materials were deposited in contact with an ice mass. Examples of ice contact features include; kames, heads of outwash, and kettles. Soils that have developed in ice contact deposits include the Plymouth, Barnstable, Canton, and Hinckley soils.
Organic deposits are accumulations of plant materials of varying degrees of decomposition that have formed in wet areas and are 16 inches or greater in thickness. The Freetown and Swansea soils developed in freshwater organic deposits. The Ipswich and Pawcatuck soils developed in organic tidal marsh deposits.
Alluvial deposits are recent material which has been deposited by flowing water. Alluvial deposits occur along the major rivers of the county. The Winoski and Limerick soils are examples of alluvial soils.
Beaches are unvegetated, wave washed accumulations of sand that do not meet the criteria for a soil and are mapped as a miscellaneous area. Sand dunes are windblown deposits of sand. Hooksan soils developed within areas of sand dunes.
Topography and Relief
The shape of the land surface, its slope and position on the landscape, greatly influence the kinds of soils formed. In Plymouth County soils that formed in similar parent materials with the same climatic conditions exhibit differences as a result of their position on the landscape. These differences are largely a result of varying drainage conditions due to surface runoff or depth to water table.
Organisms
All living organisms actively influence the soil forming process. These organisms include bacteria, fungi, vegetation and animals. Their major influence is the effect on the chemical and physical environment of the soils.
Some types of micro-organisms promote acid conditions and change the chemistry of the soil which in turn influences the type of soil forming processes that take place. Microbial animals decompose organic materials and return the products of decomposition to the soil.
Larger animals such as earthworms and burrowing animals mix the soil and change its physical characteristics. They generally make the soil more permeable to air and water. Their waste products cause aggregation of the soil particles and improve soil structure.
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