An Inside Look at Soil

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Soil makes up the outermost layer of our planet. On average, most soil is approximately 1 meter thick. But, where does soil come from? Soil undergoes different processes in order to become, well, “dirt.”
Weathering is the name given to the process by which rocks are broken down to form soil. There are several different types of weathering processes, in which rocks undergo to form soil: physical, chemical, and biological. In physical weathering, rocks are broken down into finer and finer particles by means of physical attributes, such by water or freezing. When igneous rocks cool and start to crack or fracture, water can run through the cracks and break down the rocks into smaller particles to create soil. In the colder regions, ice can actually break rocks into finer particles. Or even the ocean waves can pound into rocks to create soil. In chemical weathering, rocks are broken by means of chemical attributes, such as acidification. Acid rain contains elevated levels of hydrogen ions, causing the pH level of the precipitation to be very acidic. In biological weathering, the effect of living organisms breaks down the rocks into soil, such as the effects of plant roots. Growing plant roots can exert stress or pressure on rock to form soil. For example, the video showed the lichen and fern plants growing from the igneous rocks, which can breakdown to create soil.
Soil has distant layers of earth lying above the other, parallel to soil surfaces; this is known as soil horizons. These horizons may be encountered when digging from the surface to bedrock in this order: O, A, E, B, C, and R. These horizons are identified on the basis of their physical attributes, mainly by their color, structure, texture, particle size, as well as th...

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...omposition and weathering are much slower than if the temperatures were warm.
The four components of soil works together to provide optimal conditions for water, air, and nutrients available for plant growth. Soil is made of air, water, mineral particles, organic matter, and organisms. Half of soil is pore space. Generally, pores are about half filled with water and half air, though the proportion varies greatly depending on weather, plant water use, and soil texture. Most of the solid portion of soil is mineral particles. Soil is basically the storehouse for the nutrients that plants need to survive. Dissolved minerals and water are absorbed into the plant’s root system, and is continually replenished from the store of nutrients in minerals and organic matter in the soil. Sometimes, nutrients may be added by farmers, by adding fertilizers once or more a year.

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