Influence Of Climate And Topography On Soil Formation

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Climate and topography are two important factors in soil formation. Your task is to write an account on how climate and topography affect soil formation with special reference to the formation of the soils of Malta.

Over millions of years as the Earth evolved, parent material was eroded and soil developed. Studies of soils throughout the world have shown that the formation of soils are largely controlled by five major factors which are climate, topography; living organisms; nature of parent material; chemical and mineralogical composition and time. The affect of climate on topography on soil formation are taken into account with reference to the formation of the soils of the Maltese Islands.
Climate
Climate is the average weather condition of an area over a long period and this is perhaps the most significant of the five factors in soil morphology. Temperature and precipitation are the primary forces of climate which affect the chemical and physical processes responsible for soil formation. These are the main driving forces that affect weathering which eventually is the building block of soil itself. Precipitation has a great influence on soil because the intensity and distribution of rainfall determines the weathering of soil. When weathering occurs, nutrients are released …show more content…

The climate and parent material’s role in soil formation is active, however topography is a passive element which ceases or alters profile development. Moreover, the exposure of slope with respect to rainfall and sunshine interception leads to different pedoclimates and weathering conditions (Verheye, W. & de la Rosa, D., 2005). As Brady, N. (1984) stated, there is a definite interaction among topography; vegetation and soil formation. An area can contain various topographic features such as valleys, plains, hills, dissected plains, and escarpments which have different slope

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