1 / 10

Soil Physical Properties

Soil Physical Properties. Soil Physical Properties. Color Texture Density (particle density vs. bulk density) Pore space (porosity) Structure Aggregate stability. Physical properties are important. 1) Control plant growth through influence on:. Soil temperature (darker = warmer).

aislin
Download Presentation

Soil Physical Properties

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Soil Physical Properties

  2. Soil Physical Properties • Color • Texture • Density (particle density vs. bulk density) • Pore space (porosity) • Structure • Aggregate stability

  3. Physical properties are important 1) Control plant growth through influence on: Soil temperature (darker = warmer) Soil aeration (sandy soils well aerated) Soil moisture content (clayey soils stay wet) 2) Indicate important characteristics of a soil • e.g., lots vs. little organic matter

  4. Objectives • Know what color tells you about a soil • Describe the concept of soil texture and its importance • Use the textural triangle to determine a soil’s textural class based on its sand, silt and clay content

  5. Physical properties – Color • covaries with • O.M. • Fe and Al oxides • moisture saturation • mineralogy (e.g., calcite, hematite=Fe2O3) • Color

  6. Color “quantified” using the Munsell system • Hue (e.g., 10YR) tells you general shade (red, yellow); DOES NOT tell you how dark the soil is • Value (e.g., 10YR 5/6) tells you how dark the soil is: 0 is darkest • Chroma (e.g., 10YR 5/6) tells you brightness (0 = gray). Indicates moisture conditions (bright = dry)

  7. 10R 10YR 10R 10P 10Y 10Y 10B 10G Soil Color: Hue 2.5 YR 5YR 7.5 YR 2.5 Y 5 Y 7.5 Y Go clockwise to numerically add next color!

  8. Color

  9. 10YR page of Munsell color book (also see Fig 4.1 of your text)

  10. Example Question • Which soil horizon likely has more organic matter, one that is classified as 5R 5/6, or one that you decide is 10YR 1/7?

More Related