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Soil types by clay, silt and sand composition as used by the United States Department of Agriculture. Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > 63 micrometres (0.0025 in)), silt (particle size > 2 micrometres (7.9 × 10 −5 in)), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < 2 micrometres (7.9 × 10 −5 in)).
The soil moisture regime, often reflective of climatic factors, is a major determinant of the productivity of terrestrial ecosystems, including agricultural systems. The soil moisture regimes are defined based on the levels of the groundwater table and the amounts of soil water available to plants during a given year in a particular region.
A fourth term, loam, is used to describe equal properties of sand, silt, and clay in a soil sample, and lends to the naming of even more classifications, e.g. "clay loam" or "silt loam". Determining soil texture is often aided with the use of a soil texture triangle plot. [5] An example of a soil triangle is found on the right side of the page.
A study of a single winter rye plant grown for four months in one cubic foot (0.0283 cubic meters) of loam soil showed that the plant developed 13,800,000 roots, a total of 620 km in length with 237 square meters in surface area; and 14 billion root hairs of 10,620 km total length and 400 square meters total area; for a total surface area of ...
Soil color is often the most visually apparent property of soil. While color itself does not influence the behavior or practical use of soils, [ 1 ] it does indicate important information about the soil organic matter content, mineralogy , moisture, and drainage.
Soil bulk density, when determined at standardized moisture conditions, is an estimate of soil compaction. [3] Soil porosity consists of the void part of the soil volume and is occupied by gases or water. Soil consistency is the ability of soil materials to stick together. Soil temperature and colour are self-defining.
Soil texture triangle showing the USDA classification system based on grain size Map of global soil regions from the USDA. For soil resources, experience has shown that a natural system approach to classification, i.e. grouping soils by their intrinsic property (soil morphology), behaviour, or genesis, results in classes that can be interpreted for many diverse uses.
Soil organic carbon organic carbon that does not meet the diagnostic criteria of artefacts. The classification comprises two levels: The first level has 32 Reference Soil Groups (RSGs). At the second level, for further differentiation a set of qualifiers is added to the name of the RSG. There are 202 qualifiers in total.