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Plants with shallow roots, might not withstand the soil contraction forces due to the shrinkage of clay in the dry season. The low water infiltration rate and hydraulic conductivity may lead to a perched water table form on top of the claypan layer. Water in the perched water table evaporates instead of uptake by plants, especially in the dry ...
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals [1] (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, Al 2 Si 2 O 5 4). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impurities, such as a reddish or brownish colour from small amounts of iron oxide .
The soil texture is determined by the relative proportions of the individual particles of sand, silt, and clay that make up the soil. A soil texture triangle plot is a visual representation of the proportions of sand, silt, and clay in a soil sample.
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.
The use of soil tests, coupled with the corresponding provisions, can alleviate issues of nutrition and irrigation that can result from non porous Ultisol. [4] Soil tests help indicate the pH, and red clay soil typically has a low pH. [5] The addition of lime is used to help to increase the pH in soil and can help increase the pH in Ultisol as ...
Plants hold soil against erosion, and accumulated plant material build soil humus levels. Plant root exudation supports microbial activity. Animals serve to decompose plant materials and mix soil through bioturbation. [70] Soil is the most speciose (species-rich) ecosystem on Earth, but the vast majority of organisms in soil are microbes, a ...
In soils, clay is a soil textural class and is defined in a physical sense as any mineral particle less than 2 μm (8 × 10 −5 in) in effective diameter. Many soil minerals, such as gypsum , carbonates, or quartz, are small enough to be classified as clay based on their physical size, but chemically they do not afford the same utility as do ...
A soil type is a taxonomic unit in soil science. All soils that share a certain set of well-defined properties form a distinctive soil type. [1] Soil type is a technical term of soil classification, the science that deals with the systematic categorization of soils. Every soil of the world belongs to a certain soil type. Soil type is an ...