Write about desert soil
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Desert soil is mainly found on the hills slopes covered with forests. this soil is formed due to the deposition of organic matter and is thus rich in humus. it is suitable for tea, coffee and spice cultivation
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Desert soilsare downright unusual! They vary tremendously in texture; many are sandy and gravelly, while others contain layers of sticky clay, or even rock-hard, white limy layers. Desert soils may be gray-colored, brown, or even brick red. In the more arid parts of theSonoran Desert, surfaces of some soils are covered by a layer of small stones that can be as tightly interlocked as pieces of an ancient Roman mosaic, and are coated with dark, shiny rock varnish. Many of these diverse features of desert soils have taken thousands of years or more to form. Characteristics of these soils also greatly affect, and are greatly affected by, desert organisms.
Soil Formation
The varied geological terrains of the Sonoran Desert provide many different kinds ofparent materialsin which soils form. Gravelly or stony alluvial fans that spill out of mountain drainages into adjacent basins cover much of the face of the Sonoran Desert (see the chapter “The Geologic Origin of the Sonoran Desert”). The sediments transported all the way to the floors of these basins are usually much finer—sands, silts and clays. Themountains themselves possess various rock types, slopes, and exposures that offer a complex array of different soil-forming environments.The monstrous heaps of wind-blown sand in the dune fields of the Gran Desierto in northwestern Sonora and the Cactus Plain east of Parker, Arizona, provide yet another kind of soil parent material.
Soils initially form within the physical matrix of the parent material. Over time, the composition and location of substances within the developing soil change and move around, altering the soil’s characteristics. Water is responsible for most of this work of alteration and transportation of materials in soils, even in deserts. Physical and chemical weathering reduces the sizes of coarse particles. Chemical reactions convert some minerals contained in the parent materials into clay minerals. Other chemical reactions paint the soil’s colors. Wind-blown dust and solids dissolved or suspended in raindrops slowly add new materials to the desert’s surface, and water moves some of these materials downward into the soil. Living things residing in and on a soil further influence the soil’s development. All of these processes take time; desert soils that have formed in parent materials that were deposited long, long ago differ considerably from those that have formed in younger deposits.
desert soils r porous,they dont hold enough water and contain less humus,they r rather dry and dont support plant growth
Soil Formation
The varied geological terrains of the Sonoran Desert provide many different kinds ofparent materialsin which soils form. Gravelly or stony alluvial fans that spill out of mountain drainages into adjacent basins cover much of the face of the Sonoran Desert (see the chapter “The Geologic Origin of the Sonoran Desert”). The sediments transported all the way to the floors of these basins are usually much finer—sands, silts and clays. Themountains themselves possess various rock types, slopes, and exposures that offer a complex array of different soil-forming environments.The monstrous heaps of wind-blown sand in the dune fields of the Gran Desierto in northwestern Sonora and the Cactus Plain east of Parker, Arizona, provide yet another kind of soil parent material.
Soils initially form within the physical matrix of the parent material. Over time, the composition and location of substances within the developing soil change and move around, altering the soil’s characteristics. Water is responsible for most of this work of alteration and transportation of materials in soils, even in deserts. Physical and chemical weathering reduces the sizes of coarse particles. Chemical reactions convert some minerals contained in the parent materials into clay minerals. Other chemical reactions paint the soil’s colors. Wind-blown dust and solids dissolved or suspended in raindrops slowly add new materials to the desert’s surface, and water moves some of these materials downward into the soil. Living things residing in and on a soil further influence the soil’s development. All of these processes take time; desert soils that have formed in parent materials that were deposited long, long ago differ considerably from those that have formed in younger deposits.
desert soils r porous,they dont hold enough water and contain less humus,they r rather dry and dont support plant growth
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