Soil is the growing medium for our food

Without it we could not survive

Soil purifies our waste
Soil is home to plants and animals
It may take up to 100 years to form one inch of topsoil
We are losing so much soil to erosion each year that the
lost soil if loaded into dump trucks parked back to back
would extend to the moon and back.
An earthworm can work a ton of soil a year

Sandy particles are the only particles
which may be large enough to be
seen with the naked eye.
Predominantly sandy soil has a gritty
feel (coarse-textured) when rubbed
between the fingers.
Silt particles are smaller than sand
particles. Predominantly silty soils feel
powdery (like flour) and do not hold
together well when wet, though they
are more cohesive than sandy soils.
Clayey soil has the smallest soil
particles, and many small pore
spaces. Soils with a high number of
clay particles have a very high water
holding capacity and are very fine-
textured, making them feel smooth
and sticky (like soap) when wet.

Loam is the best soil texture for
growing things. It is a mixture
that has useful amounts of clay
and silt in a base of sand.
SOIL FORMATION
The formation of soil happens over a very
long period of time. It can take 1000 years or
more. Soil is formed from the weathering of
rocks and minerals. The surface rocks break
down into smaller pieces through a process
of weathering and is then mixed with moss
and organic matter
Weathering is the breaking down
of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial
materials through contact with the Earth's
atmosphere, biota and waters. Weathering are of three
types
Physical weathering
Chemical weathering
Biological weathering
TIME
CLIMATE
PARENT MATERIAL
TOPOGRAPHY AND RELIEF
ORGANISM

AFFECT OF TIME
. Time is required for the
formation of soil. The longer a
soil surface has been exposed
to soil forming agents like rain
and growing plants, the greater
the development of the soil
profile
A newly exposed
surface will have very
little if any soil, while
old surfaces will often
have much deeper
soils
Climate, particularly temperature, precipitation
and frost action have a profound influence on
the soil forming processes which occur within a
region
Parent material is the
unconsolidated mineral and
organic deposits in which soils
are developing. It determines
the mineralogical composition
and contributes largely to the
physical and chemical
characteristics of the soil.
The up and down changes in hills and
mountains of a particular location is referred
to by scientists as topography. Topography
has an important influence in how soils
form.
TOPOGRAPHY &RELIEF
1. The first topographic factor is steepness of
hill and mountain slopes.
2. The second topographic factor effecting
soil formation is drainage, or in other
words, how well is the soil able to get rid
of extra water via draining it.
All living organisms actively
influence the soil forming process.
These organisms include bacteria,
fungi, vegetation and animals.
Their major influence is the effect
on the chemical and physical
environment of the soils.
SOIL TEXTURE IS A QUALITATIVE
CLASSIFICATION TOOL USED IN
BOTH THE FIELD AND
LABORATORY TO DETERMINE
CLASSES FOR AGRICULTURE SOILS
BASED ON THEIR PHYSICAL
TEXTURE
Soil textures are classified by the
fractions of each soil separate (sand,
silt, and clay) present in a soil.
Classifications are typically named for
the primary constituent particle size or
a combination of the most abundant
particles sizes, e.g. "sandy clay" or
"silty clay."
Soil texture graph is classified according
to its composition, and the three basic
materials that comprise soil are clay,
sand, and silt. The proportions of each of
these components determines whether
soil is classified as "sandy clay," "silty
clay," "loam," or another term.