SOILS AND THE

ENVIRONMENT

Natural Science 4
The Earth: Our Habitat

Astrid Korina S. Gabo
DPSM, CAS, UP Manila
To become familiar with soils
terminology and the processes
responsible for the development
of soils.
To understand relationships
between land use and soils.

SOIL
(To soil scientists) solid earth material that has been
altered by physical, chemical, and organic processes
such that it can support rooted plant life.
(To engineers) any solid earth material that can be
removed without blasting.
Involves the combination of rock, air, water, and
organic material.

Soil Weathering
Physical and chemical breakdown of rocks and the
first step in soil development.
Weathered rock is further modified by the activity of
soil organisms into soil
Soil Profile
It is the vertical cross-section from the surface
down to the parent material.
The layers within the soil profile are called zones
or soil horizons


Soil Color
May be an important indicator of how well drained a
soil is
Well drained soils are well aerated, then iron oxidizes
to a red color; while, poorly drained soils are wet, then
iron is reduced rather than oxidized.
Poorly drained soils are associated with lower slope
stability and inability to be utilized for household
sewage systems disposal
Soil color Soil attributes Environmental conditions
Brown to black
(surface horizon)
accumulation of
organic matter
(OM), humus
low temperature, high annual precipitation
amounts, soils high in soil moisture, and/or
litter from coniferous trees favor an
accumulation of OM
Black (subsurface
horizon)
Accumulation of
manganese
Parent material (e.g.
basalt)
-
Bright-light
Eluvial horizon (E
horizon)
In environments where precipitation >
evapotranspiration there is leaching of
sequioxides, carbonates, and silicate clays.
The eluviated horizon consists mainly of
silica
Yellow to reddish Fe
3+
(oxidized iron) Well-aerated soils
Soil Color
Soil color Soil attributes Environmental conditions
Gray, bluish-green Fe
2+
(reduced iron)
Poorly drained soils (e.g. subsurface layer
with a high bulk density causes
waterlogging, or a very fine textured soil
where permeability is very low), anaerobic
environmental conditions
White to gray Accumulation of salts
In arid or subhumid environments where
the evapotranspiration > precipitation
there is an upward movement of water
and soluble salts in the soil
White to gray
Parent material: marl,
quartz
-
Soil Color
Soil Texture
Dependent on the relative proportions of sand-, silt-,
and clay-sized particles

Particle Size Diameter (mm)
Clay Less than 0.004
Silt 0.004 0.074
Sand 0.074 2.0
Gravel/Cobble/Boulder Larger than 2.0
Soil Texture
Useful field techniques for estimating the size of soil
particles:
Identify the soil particle size
Sand if you can see individual grains
Silt if you can see the grains with a 10x hand lens
Clay if you cannot see the grains with such a hand lens
Feel the soil
Sand gritty
Silt feels like baking flour
Clay - cohesive

Soil Texture
Useful field techniques for estimating the size of soil
particles:
Identify the soil particle size
Sand if you can see individual grains
Silt if you can see the grains with a 10x hand lens
Clay if you cannot see the grains with such a hand lens
Feel the soil
Sand gritty
Silt feels like baking flour
Clay - cohesive

Soil Texture
Soil Structure
What soil structure is this?


What soil structure is this?

What soil structure is this?
NCRS USDA
What soil structure is this?

NCRS USDA
Relative Profile Development
Weakly developed soil profile
An A horizon directly over a C horizon (no B horizon)
C horizon may be oxidized
Few hundred to several thousand years old
Moderately developed soil profile
May consist an A horizon overlying an argillic B
t
horizon
that overlies the C horizon
A carbonate B
k
horizon may also be present
Have a B horizon with a better-developed texture and
redder colors
More than 10,000 years old


Well-developed soil profile
Redder colors in the B
t
horizon, more translocation of
clay and stronger structure
K horizon may also be present
Vary widely in age, ranges between 40,000 and several
hundred thousand years and older
Relative Profile Development
SOIL TYPES
a) Pedalfer derived from pedon (soil) and Al and Fe
b) Pedocal from pedon and calcite
c) Laterite red, highly leached soil type found in the
tropics that is rich in oxides of iron and aluminum
Entisols
Weakly-developed soils
With little or no evidence of B horizon

Vertisols
have a high proportion of swelling
clay and that have at some time of
the year form deep wide cracks
shrink when drying and swell
when they become wetter.
Inceptisols
found in mountainous areas and
are used for forestry, recreation,
and watershed.
Aridisols
From the term aridus, dry
Dominate the deserts
Mollisols
Typically under a grassland cover
Andisols
Mainly from volcanic ejecta
Spodosols
an acidic forest soil of low fertility,
common to the cool, humid areas
of North America and Eurasia.
Alfisols
tend to be strongly weathered, well
developed, and contain a
subsurface horizon in which clays
have accumulated
typically develop under under
native deciduous forests.
Ultisols
Commonly known as red clay soils
Oxisols
soils of the tropical and
subtropical regions
Contains laterite - a red, highly
leached soil type found in the
tropics that is rich in oxides of iron
and aluminum.

Histosols
dominantly organic
Soil Types in the Philippines
May be grouped into six soil orders, namely: Ultisols,
Alfisols, Inceptisols, Vertisols, Entisols and Oxisols
Except for the Aridisols and Spodosols, the other soil
orders, Histosols and Mollisols, are also observed but
to a limited extent


http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/counprof/Philippines/phfig4.htm
SOIL DISTURBANCES
Environmental Problems
of Soils
Soil Pollution
Desertification
Urbanization


Environmental Problems
of Soils
Soil Pollution
Occurs when materials detrimental to people
and other living things are inadvertently or
deliberately applied to soils



Desertification
Conversion of land from some productive state
to that more resembling a desert.
Driving forces: overgrazing, deforestation,
adverse soil erosion, poor irrigation, water
supply overuse
Urbanization
Soil may be scraped off and lost
Soil materials used from outside areas to fill a
depression may result in a much different soil
Draining soils and pumping them to remove
water may cause changes
Soil pollution due to hazardous chemicals


Dessication

Off-Road Vehicles
Off-Road Vehicles