SOIL

Soils are complex mixtures of minerals, water, air, and organic matter (both dead and alive), forming at the surface of land.

 

Soil lets plants grow, allows gas exchanges to happen between the land and air, provides habitat for most of the organisms on Earth, holds and cleans water, recycles nutrients, and is used for constructing structures like buildings and roadbeds.

 

If the soil is made up of big particles it is called sandy soil.

If the soil is made up of tiny particles it is called clay soil.

If the soil is made up of sand, silt and clay it is called loamy soil.

Silty loams and sandy soils will absorb water at a faster rate than clay soils, which are the slowest to infiltrate rainfall.

Weather conditions like heat, cold, rain, and snow break down bugs, rocks, and pieces of trees to make soil. When we’re playing outside, we only see one layer of soil on the ground, but there are actually FOUR LAYERS OF SOIL. Even though most of the soil we see on the ground is brown, it comes in other colors like red, white, and even yellow.

• "topsoil": This layer is made up of minerals and decomposed organic matter and it is also very dark in color. This is the layer that many plants roots grow in.
• "subsoil": This layer has clay and mineral deposits and less organic materials than the layers above it. This layer is also lighter in color than the layers above it.
• "bedrock": This layer is made up of slightly unbroken rock and only a little bit of organic material is found here. Plant roots are not found in this layer.

  

 

Information copied mainly from:

 

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Fertile soil: contains a lot of water, air and humus. Plants grow well here.

 

  

Poor soil: contains very little water, air or humus. Only a few plants, like olive trees and cereals grow well here.

  

 

Arid soil: this is vey pood soil, for example, soil in the desert. It is made up of rocks and sand and no humus. Only plants like cactuses can grow here.