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A soil layer is a zone in the soil, approximately parallel to the soil surface, with properties different from layers above and/or below it. If at least one of these properties is the result of soil-forming processes, the layer is called a soil horizon. In the following, the term layer is used to indicate the possibility that soil-forming ...
About 1,000 soil subgroups are defined in the United States. [6] A soil family category is a group of soils within a subgroup and describes the physical and chemical properties which affect the response of soil to agricultural management and engineering applications. The principal characteristics used to differentiate soil families include ...
Soil formation, also known as pedogenesis, is the process of soil genesis as regulated by the effects of place, environment, and history. Biogeochemical processes act to both create and destroy order within soils.
[8] [9] Soil horizons are layers parallel to the soil surface whose physical, chemical and biological characteristics differ from the layers above and beneath. The depth of the topsoil layer is measured as the depth of the surface to the first densely packed soil layer, known as subsoil .
The Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) is a soil classification system used in engineering and geology to describe the texture and grain size of a soil. The classification system can be applied to most unconsolidated materials, and is represented by a two-letter symbol. Each letter is described below (with the exception of Pt):
Diagnostic horizons are typical results of soil-forming processes showing a minimum thickness and therefore a horizontal appearance,thus forming a recognizable layer in the soil. The diagnostics have names (e. g. argic horizon, stagnic properties, fluvic material). For example, diagnostic materials related to the concentration of organic carbon ...
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from soil by restricting the former term specifically to displaced soil. Soil measuring and surveying device
The soil solution is mixed with a metal plunger to disperse the soil particles. [11] The soil particles separate based on size and sink to the bottom. Sand particles sink to the bottom of the cylinder first. Silt particles sink to the bottom of the cylinder after the sand. Clay particles separate out above the silt layer.