What is soil? Types of soil
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Question❓:-
What is soil? Types of soil
Required Answer ⤵️
Soil is the upper layer of the earth composed of loose surface material. It is a mixture of many substances including many minerals, remnants of plants and animals, water and air. The health of the soil depends on its interaction between air, water, minerals, plant and animal remnants i.e. with its parent material. Soil is an important part of our ecosystem. Soil is the seat, and raw material for plant growth. It is the most fundamental resource of our country.
The soils of India are broadly divided in the following six types:
☞ Mountain Soil = There are many soils covered in this type. Slopes of mountains have gravelly, very small broken pieces of stones which in the latter part turn in finer stones mixed with alluvium and than deep alluvium in the river valleys, Steep part of the mountains not allow any deposit of soil. Orchards are grown on the slopes, rice in valley and potato almost in all areas.
☞ Alluvial soil = These soils are formed of deposit of silt and sand brought down by the rivers flowing from the Himalayas and the great Indian Plateau. These soils are very fertile. These cover the vast areas of the basins of Sutlej. Ganga, and Brahmaputra. Almost all the crops are grown on this soil.
☞ Black soil = The black soils cover large part of Maharashtra, some parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and small parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. This soil is formed from volcanic lava. It has the quality of retaining moisture even during the dry season. This soil is good for growing cotton, sugarcane, wheat, onion, and some fruits.
☞ Red soil = These cover large part of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chotanagpur Plateau and Meghalaya Plateau. These are formed from rocks like granite, and others. These are less fertile and are not as important as alluvial and black soils. This soil is suitable for rice, millet, maize, groundnut, tobacco and fruits.
☞ Laterite soil = These soils are found in areas of high altitude and heavy rainfall in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam and Meghalaya. The soils are least fertile. The crops generally grown are rice, millets, sugarcane, rubber, coffee and tea.
☞ Desert soil = The soil is sandy. The colour is either red or light brown. It is found in areas which has very low rainfall. When irrigation is available crops like cotton, rice, wheat, etc. can be grown with the help of fertilizers. The soils are found in western Rajasthan, western Haryana, southern Punjab, Saurashtra and Kuchchh.
From a general perspective, “soil” is a very broad term and refers to the loose layer of earth that covers the surface of the planet. The soil is the part of the earth’s surface, which includes disintegrated rock, humus, inorganic and organic materials. For soil to form from rocks, it takes an average of 500 years or more. The soil is usually formed when rocks break up into their constituent parts. When a range of different forces act on the rocks, they break into smaller parts to form the soil. These forces also include the impact of wind, water and the reaction from salts.
Sandy Soil
- The first type of soil is sand. It consists of small particles of weathered rock. Sandy soils are one of the poorest types of soil for growing plants because it has very low nutrients and poor water holding capacity, which makes it hard for the plant’s roots to absorb water. This type of soil is very good for the drainage system. Sandy soil is usually formed by the breakdown or fragmentation of rocks like granite, limestone and quartz.
Silt Soil
- Silt, which is known to have much smaller particles compared to sandy soil and is made up of rock and other mineral particles, which are smaller than sand and larger than clay. It is the smooth and fine quality of the soil that holds water better than sand. Silt is easily transported by moving currents and it is mainly found near the river, lake and other water bodies. The silt soil is more fertile compared to the other three types of soil. Therefore, it is also used in agricultural practices to improve soil fertility.
Clay Soil
Clay is the smallest particle amongst the other two types of soil. The particles in this soil are tightly packed together with each other with very little or no airspace. This soil has very good water storage qualities and makes it hard for moisture and air to penetrate into it. It is very sticky to the touch when wet, but smooth when dried. Clay is the densest and heaviest type of soil which does not drain well or provide space for plant roots to flourish.