What do you mean by soil ? Describe
its physical properties.
Answers
Explanation:
The physical properties of soil, in order of decreasing importance for ecosystem services such as crop production, are texture, structure, bulk density, porosity, consistency, temperature, colour and resistivity. ... Soil porosity consists of the void part of the soil volume and is occupied by gases or water.
Answer:
Soil
Soil can be defined as the organic and inorganic materials on the surface of the earth that provide the medium for plant growth. Soil develops slowly over time and is composed of many different materials. Inorganic materials, or those materials that are not living, include weathered rocks and minerals.
Physical Properties of Soil :
Soil Texture
The particles that make up soil are categorized into three groups by size – sand, silt, and clay. Sand particles are the largest and clay particles the smallest. Most soils are a combination of the three. The relative percentages of sand, silt, and clay are what give soil its texture. A clay loam texture soil, for example, has nearly equal parts of sand, slit, and clay. These textural separates result from the weathering process.
There are 12 soil textural classes represented on the soil texture triangle. This triangle is used so that terms like “clay” or “loam” always have the same meaning. Each texture corresponds to specific percentages of sand, silt, or clay. Knowing the texture helps us manage the soil.
Soil Structure
Soil structure is the arrangement of soil particles into small clumps, called peds or aggregates. Soil particles (sand, silt, clay and even organic matter) bind together to form peds. Depending on the composition and on the conditions in which the peds formed (getting wet and drying out, or freezing and thawing, foot traffic, farming, etc.), the ped has a specific shape. They could be granular (like gardening soil), blocky, columnar, platy, massive (like modeling clay) or single-grained (like beach sand). Structure correlates to the pore space in the soil which influences root growth and air and water movement.
Soil Colour
Soil color is influenced primarily by soil mineralogy – telling us what is in a specific soil. Soils high in iron are deep orange-brown to yellowish-brown. Those soils that are high in organic matter are dark brown or black. Color can also tell us how a soil “behaves” – a soil that drains well is brightly colored and one that is often wet and soggy will have a mottled pattern of grays, reds, and yellows.
Explanation: