Soil Science

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Soil Science

• Get Your Hands Dirty

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Soil the layer we live on

• Supports plants
• Allows rain to percolate in or
• Leaves rain to Runoff
• Stores and purifies water
• Soil microorganisms decompose many things
• Pollutes as sediment in water and dust in air

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Soil Formation

• Rock that weather s becomes soil
• Minerals decompose
• Plant growth helps by forming carbonic acid
• This releases elements from the rock which plants
  need
• Weathering and plant growth Team Up in soil
  formation
• Soils are a mixture of mineral and organic matter

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The Mineral Component sand, silt, clay

• High clay content finely textured
• Holds nutrients
• Water retention
• Binds particles together
• High silt content medium textured
• Substrate particles smaller than sand and larger
  than clay
• Picked up by air or water and deposited
• High sand content coarse textured
• Water percolates through

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Clay
Silt
Sand
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Organic Component

• Results from decomposition of plant and animal
  matter
• Aids in moisture retention
• Supplies nutrients
• Enhances soil aggregation and
• aeration
• Reduces erosion

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What you can do?

• Describe soil texture
• Compare textures in different areas
• Measure its aeration
• Inventory the things living in soil
• Test its pH , Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium
  
• Measure its organic composition
• Note its changes
• Use topography to predict trends