List characteristics of soil
Answers
All soils contain mineral particles, organic matter, water and air. The combinations of these determine the soil’s properties – its texture, structure, porosity, chemistry and colour.
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Introduction:
Without mechanical and chemical weathering working to break down rock, there would not be any soil on Earth. It is unlikely that humans or most other creatures would be able to live on Earth without soil. Wood, paper, cotton, medicines, and even pure water need soil. So soil is a precious resource that must be carefully managed and cared for. Although soil is a renewable resource, its renewal takes a lot of time.
Even though soil is only a very thin layer on Earth’s surface over the solid rocks below, it is the where the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere meet. Within the soil layer, important reactions between solid rock, liquid water, air, and living things take place. Soil is a complex mixture of different materials.
- About half of most soils are inorganic materials, such as the products of weathered rock, including pebbles, sand, silt, and clay particles.
- About half of all soils are organic materials, formed from the partial breakdown and decomposition of plants and animals. The organic materials are necessary for a soil to be fertile. The organic portion provides the nutrients, such as nitrogen, needed for strong plant growth.
- In between the solid pieces, there are tiny spaces filled with air and water.
In some soils, the organic portion could be missing, as in desert sand. Or a soil could be completely organic, such as the materials that make up peat in a bog or swamp
Soil is an ecosystem unto itself. In the spaces of soil, there are thousands or even millions of living organisms. Those organisms could be anything from earthworms, ants, bacteria, or fungi.