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Earth Science for Kids

Soil

What is soil?

Soil is the loose upper layer of the World's surface where plants grow. Soil consists of a mix of organic material (decayed plants and animals) and broken $.25 of rocks and minerals.

How is soil formed?

Soil is formed over a long period of time by a number of factors. It tin can take upwards to thou years for merely an inch of soil to form. Likewise time, other factors that assistance soil to course include:

Living organisms - This includes organisms such as plants, fungi, animals, and leaner.
Topography - This is the relief or slope of the surface of land where the soil is forming.
Climate - The overall climate and weather where the soil is forming.
Parent fabric - The parent textile is the minerals and rocks that are slowly disintegrating to form the soil.

Why is soil important?

At first yous may call back of soil equally just dirt. Something yous want to become rid of. However, soil plays a very of import role in supporting life on Globe.

Plants - Many plants need soil to grow. Plants use soil not merely for nutrients, merely also equally a way to anchor themselves into the ground using their roots.
Temper - Soil impacts our atmosphere releasing gasses such as carbon dioxide into the air.
Living organisms - Many animals, fungi, and leaner rely on soil as a identify to live.
Nutrient cycles - Soil plays an important role in cycling nutrients including the carbon and nitrogen cycles.
H2o - The soil helps to filter and clean our water.

Properties of Soil

Soil is often described using several characteristics including texture, structure, density, temperature, colour, consistency, and porosity. One of the well-nigh important properties of soil is the texture. Texture is a measure of whether the soil is more like sand, silt, or clay. The more like sand a soil is the less water it tin hold. On the other hand, the more like clay a soil is, the more water it tin hold.

Soil Horizons

Soil is fabricated up of many layers. These layers are often called horizons. Depending on the type of soil there may exist several layers. There are 3 main horizons (called A, B, and C) which are present in all soil.

Organic - The organic layer (also called the humus layer) is a thick layer of plant remains such as leaves and twigs.
Topsoil - Topsoil is considered the "A" horizon. Information technology is a adequately thin layer (five to ten inches thick) equanimous of organic matter and minerals. This layer is the primary layer where plants and organisms live.
Subsoil - Subsoil is considered the "B" horizon. This layer is fabricated primarily of clay, iron, and organic matter which accumulated through a process called illuviation.
Parent material - The parent cloth layer is considered the "C" horizon. This layer is called the parent cloth because the upper layers developed from this layer. It is fabricated upward mostly of large rocks.
Bedrock - The bottom layer is several feet beneath the surface. The bedrock is made up of a large solid mass of rock.

Interesting Facts nigh Soil Science

The process by which minerals move downward through soil is called leaching.
In a teaspoon of good soil in that location will typically be several hundred million leaner.
The average acre of skilful cropland volition be domicile to over 1 million earthworms.
Soil is mostly fabricated of the elements oxygen, silicon, aluminum, atomic number 26, and carbon.
It is possible to over-farm soil and remove so much of its nutrients and organic matter that plants volition no longer be able to grow in information technology.

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Source: https://www.ducksters.com/science/earth_science/soil_science.php

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