SOIL types and their characteristics

One of the most important elements of the earth's crust is the soil. This soil covers the continental land surface and allows both animal and plant life on earth. However, little is known about the different types of soil present on our planet and the characteristics that each one possesses. Therefore, in this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to talk about the different types of soils and their characteristics. If you want to know more about them, join us in the next article!

Before looking at the different types of soils, it is important to clarify what soil is. ANDThe soil represents the most superficial region of the earth's crust and is composed for the most part of the rock that comes from the erosive processes that have occurred in the land and other physical-chemical alterations and organic matter originating from the biological activity of the organisms that inhabit the Earth.

Soil is an essential part of human life, as it is where we plant our crops or build our cities, so it is important to know its characteristics. However, the ground is a

very varied and changing surface, as it is subjected to climatic phenomena such as rain and wind, complex physical and chemical processes and a rich underground ecosystemof small animals and microorganisms. All these factors directly influence soil fertility.

As we said, lSoils are formed from the destruction of rock and the accumulation of different materials throughout the centuries. This results in an arrangement in different layers as if it were a cake and that can be observed through a fault or fracture in the earth's crust.

The soil, regardless of its type, can be divided into three layers which are often called soil horizons, and are a upper layer, a middle layer and a lower layer. In each of these, we can find the different particles of the soil and matter in their various states, solid, liquid and gaseous. Each layer of the soil arises through different processes.

• The topmost layer of the ground is formed by sand, clay, leaf mulch, air and water. This layer is often referred to as the A horizon and by remaining in continuous contact with the air the atmosphere, the decomposition of animal and plant remains is favored over their surface. These decomposed materials end up forming the humus that forms the substrate and creates the nutrients for the settlement of plant roots. For this reason, it constitutes the most important layer of the soil.
• In the middle layer of soil can be found clay, sand, water, or stones. In the case of being a soil with good drainage and a lower layer more or less impermeable, in this layer groundwater can appear.
• The lowermost layer of the ground is formed by the bedrock, that constitutes the base of the soil. From the particles that are disintegrating from this rock, the upper layers emerge.