What are the physical and chemical properties of soil?

Some important physical and chemical properties of soil are mineral content, texture, cation exchange capacity, bulk density, structure, porosity, organic matter content, carbon-to-ni- trogen ratio, color, depth, fertility, and pH.

What are the chemical properties of soil?

Chemical properties

  • Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) Cation Exchange Capacity (clay) – Subsoil.
  • Soil pH. pH – Topsoil.
  • Base saturation percentage.
  • Plant nutrients.
  • Organic soil carbon.
  • Soil nitrogen.
  • Soil salinity.
  • Soil sodicity.

What are physical properties of soils?

Physical properties of soil include color, texture, structure, porosity, density, consistence, aggregate stability, and temperature. These properties affect processes such as infiltration, erosion, nutrient cycling, and biologic activity.

What are the chemical properties of soil and their importance?

Chemical properties of the soil are important to soil fertility, plant growth and reproduction. That is why it is important to understand how chemical properties of the soil interact to affect the soil’s capacity to store and release nutrients, and how soil chemistry can affect soil structure.

What is soil chemically?

The bulk of soil consists of mineral particles that are composed of arrays of silicate ions (SiO44−) combined with various positively charged metal ions. It is the number and type of the metal ions present that determine the particular mineral.

What are the physical properties of soil and its affecting factors?

The mineral components of soil are sand, silt and clay, and their relative proportions determine a soil’s texture. Properties that are influenced by soil texture include porosity, permeability, infiltration, shrink-swell rate, water-holding capacity, and susceptibility to erosion.

What are the 8 physical properties of soil?

The physical properties of soil, in order of decreasing importance for ecosystem services such as crop production, are texture, structure, bulk density, porosity, consistency, temperature, colour and resistivity.

How do you find the physical properties of soil?

Pore size, texture, structure and the presence of impervious layers such as clay pan determines the permeability of a soil. Clayey soils with platy structures have very low permeability. Permeability is measured in terms of permeability rate or coefficient of permeability (cm per hour, cm per day, cm per sec.).

What are the three main chemical properties of soil?

Chemical properties of soils include the following aspects: inorganic matters of soil, organic matters in soil, colloidal properties of soil particles and soil reactions and buffering action in acidic soils and basic soils.

What are three chemical properties soil?

Chemical Analysis. Soil chemical properties, including heavy metal concentrations, pH, total carbon, total nitrogen, CEC, exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K), exchangeable Al and hydrogen (H) and available phosphorous (P), were determined following standard laboratory methods.

What are the chemical properties of the soil?

Chemical Properties of Soils. Soil is a natural resource comprised of solid minerals and organic matter, liquids and gasses that occur on the surface. Soil provides habitats for organisms and moisture and nutrients for the basic requirements of plant growth. Soil is the basis of the production in agriculture and forestry.

Why is soil an important part of the environment?

Soil is an important component of the human environment and is a significant component of terrestrial ecosystems. Soils are characterized by physical, chemical and biological properties. This report highlights the chemical properties of soils and their importance.

How is the specific surface area of soil determined?

Soil’s specific surface area (s, m2/g): Depends on shape of soil particle. For example, if spherical (r = radius and ρ = density) Surface area (a) = 4π r2 Mass (m) = ρV = ρ[4πr3/3] Thus, specific surface area (s=a/m): s = 3/ρr (inversely proportional to radius)

What is the water content of a layer of soil?

Consider a 1.2 m depth soil profile with 3 layers. The dry bulk density of each layer (top, center, bottom) is 1.20, 1.35, and 1.48 g/cm3. The top 30-cm layer has a water content of 0.12 g/g, the center 50-cm layer has a water content of 0.18 g/g, and the bottom 40 cm layer has a water content of 0.22 g/g. a.