what is soil? briefly explain the soil formation
Answers
Soil is the thin layer of material covering the earth’s surface and is formed from the weathering of rocks. It is made up mainly of mineral particles, organic materials, air, water and living organisms—all of which interact slowly yet constantly.
Soil forms continuously, but slowly, from the gradual breakdown of rocks through weathering. Weathering can be a physical, chemical or biological process:
physical weathering—breakdown of rocks from the result of a mechanical action. Temperature changes, abrasion (when rocks collide with each other) or frost can all cause rocks to break down.
chemical weathering—breakdown of rocks through a change in their chemical makeup. This can happen when the minerals within rocks react with water, air or other chemicals.
biological weathering—the breakdown of rocks by living things. Burrowing animals help water and air get into rock, and plant roots can grow into cracks in the rock, making it split.
Soil is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Earth's body of soil, called the pedosphere, has four important functions:
as a medium for plant growth
as a means of water storage, supply and purification
as a modifier of Earth's atmosphere
as a habitat for organisms
All of these functions, in their turn, modify the soil.
Soil formation is the process by which soil is formed by various weather factors like rain…sunlight…physical activity like freezing and thawing of water that seeped through rocks and biological factors like disintegration of rocks when plant roots penetrate through rocks..
These are the layers of soil..
In some cases when burrow digging animals like rabbits dig Burrows,the parent rock is exposed to sunlight..rain..wind..etc..which may lead to its disintegration and in turn -SOIL.
Hope this helped..
:)