Soil Profiles

The soil profile is an important tool in nutrient

management.
Examination of a soil profile, gives valuable insight
into soil fertility.
As the soil weathers and/or organic matter
decomposes, the profile of the soil changes.
For instance, a highly weathered, infertile soil
usually contains a light-colored layer in the
subsurface soil from which nutrients have leached
away.
On the other hand, a highly fertile soil often has a
deep surface layer that contains high amounts of
organic matter.

As the interface between the atmosphere, biosphere,

and lithosphere, soil undergoes an intense vertical
exchange of materials resulting in steep chemical and
physical gradients from surface to bedrock.
Soil stratification is the most visible result of this
exchange, and its extensive observation and synthesis
form the basis of pedogenetic and taxonomic study
(Hilgard 1906; Jenny 1941; Soil Survey Staff 1975; Buol
et al. 1989).
The type, thickness, and position of horizons can yield
information about soil forming factors such as climate,
topography, and vegetation type (Jenny 1941; Marion et
al. 1985; Honeycutt et al. 1990).

Illustrated differences in soil profiles. The soil profile at the left

is an old soil with distinct profile development. The soil profile
at the right is an arid soil, which also shows two horizons in the
soil profile.

The soil profile is a vertical section of the soil that depicts

all of its horizons. The soil profile extends from the soil
surface to the parent rock material.
A soil horizon makes up a distinct layer of soil. The
horizon runs roughly parallel to the soil surface and has
different properties and characteristics than the adjacent
layers above and below.
The regolith includes all of the weathered material within
the profile. The regolith has two components: the solum
and the saprolite.
The solum includes the upper horizons with the most
weathered portion of the profile.
The saprolite is the least weathered portion that lies
directly above the solid, consolidated bedrock but beneath
the regolith.

A represents soil; B represents laterite, a regolith;

C represents saprolite, a less-weathered regolith;
the bottommost layer represents bedrock .

Master Horizons
There are 5 master horizons in the soil profile.
The 5 master horizons are represented by the letters: O,
A, E, B, and C.
Not all soil profiles contain all 5 horizons;
soil profiles differ from one location to another.

A portrayal of the horizons within the profile of a typical

forest soil. Forests soils tend to have 5 layers, including a
surface layer of decomposing plant debris, as well of a zone
of leaching.

O: The O horizon is a surface horizon that is comprised of

organic material at various stages of decomposition. It is most

prominent in forested areas where there is the accumulation of
debris fallen from trees.
A: The A horizon is a surface horizon that largely consists of
minerals (sand, silt, and clay) and with appreciable amounts of
organic matter. This horizon is predominantly the surface layer
of many soils in grasslands and agricultural lands.
E: The E horizon is a subsurface horizon that has been heavily
leached. Leaching is the process in which soluble nutrients are
lost from the soil due to precipitation or irrigation. The horizon
is typically light in color. It is generally found beneath the O
horizon.
B: The B horizon is a subsurface horizon that has accumulated
from the layer(s) above. It is a site of deposition of certain
minerals that have leached from the layer(s) above.
C: The C horizon is a subsurface horizon. It is the least
weathered horizon. Also known as the saprolite, it is
unconsolidated, loose parent material.

Grassland soil profile. This soil profile has a surface horizon that
has high levels of organic matter. It may be representative of a
fertile grassland soil.

Soil Nutrients
The chemistry of soil determines the availability of
nutrients, the health of microbial populations, and its
physical properties.
In addition, soil chemistry also determines its
corrosivity, stability, and ability to absorb pollutants
and to filter water.
Surface chemistry of clays and humus colloids
determines soil's chemical properties
Soil colloidal particles (clay and humus) behave as a
repository of nutrients and moisture, and buffer the
variations of soil solution ions. Their contributions to
soil nutrition are out of proportion to their part of the
soil. Colloids act to store nutrients that might be
leached and to release those ions in response to soil
pH.

The vertical distribution of soil nutrients should yield

insights into nutrient inputs, outputs, and cycling
processes (Smeck 1973; Kirby 1985).
The goals of soils nutrients study should be to
characterize the vertical distribution of nutrients
globally and second to evaluate the importance of
plant cycling for structuring soil nutrients vertically.

The suite of mechanisms that shape the vertical

distribution of soil nutrients can be grouped in at least
four major processes: weathering, atmospheric
deposition, leaching, and biological cycling (Trudgill
1988). Weathering dissolution and atmospheric
deposition affect the depth at which nutrient inputs
occur (Kirby 1985).
Leaching and biological cycling influence the vertical
transport of nutrients in opposite ways. Acting in
isolation, leaching moves nutrients downward and may
increase nutrient concentrations with depth (Figure (a)).
In contrast, biological cycling generally moves nutrients
upwards because some proportion of the nutrients
absorbed by plants are transported aboveground and
then recycled to the soil surface by litterfall and
throughfall (Trudgill 1988; Stark 1994). Plant cycling
should therefore produce nutrient distributions that are
shallower or decrease with depth (Figure (b)).

Vertical redistribution of nutrients

by leaching and plant cycling.
(a) Arrows indicate water inputs
and outputs and vertical water
fluxes at different depths.
Decreasing vertical
water flow with depth depletes
nutrients from the topsoil and
accumulates them in deeper
soil layers, producing a peak at
the maximum rooting depth.
(b) Arrows indicate nutrient
uptake, transport, and above
ground cycling via litterfall and
throughfall. Plant cycling tends to
accumulate nutrients in the
topsoil and deplete them in the
root zone. Below the rooting
depth there is an increase of
nutrient concentrations because
there is no depletion.

There are sixteen nutrients essential for plant growth and reproduction.
They are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus,
potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium, iron, boron, manganese,
copper, zinc, molybdenum, and chlorine.

Plant nutrients, their chemical symbols, and the ionic forms

common in soils and available for plant uptake[72]
Element

Symbol

Ion or molecule

Carbon

CO2 (mostly through

leaves)

Hydrogen

H+, HOH (water)

O2-, OH -, CO32-, SO42-,

CO2

Phosphorus

H2PO4 -, HPO42(phosphates)

Potassium

K+

Nitrogen

NH4+, NO3 (ammonium, nitrate)

Sulfur

SO42-

Calcium

Ca

Ca2+

Oxygen

Iron

Fe

Fe2+, Fe3+ (ferrous,

ferric)

Magnesium

Mg

Mg2+

Boron

H3BO3, H2BO3 -,
B(OH)4 -

Manganese

Mn

Mn2+

Copper

Cu

Cu2+

Zinc

Zn

Zn2+

Molybdenum

Mo

MoO42- (molybdate)

Chlorine

Cl

Cl - (chloride)

Nitrogen
Nitrogen is the most critical element attained by plants from the soil and is a
bottleneck in plant growth.[77] Plants can use the nitrogen as either the cation
ammonium, NH4+, or the anion nitrate, NO3-. Nitrogen is seldom missing in the
soil but is in the form of raw organic material and cannot be used directly.

Some micro-organisms are able to metabolize the organic matter and

release ammonium in a process called mineralization. Others take
free ammonium and oxidize it to nitrate. Some bacteria are capable of
metabolizing N2 into the form of nitrate, in a process called nitrogen
fixation.
Both ammonium and nitrate can be lost from the soil by incorporation
into the microbes living cells where it is temporarily immobilized or
sequestered.
Nitrate may also be lost from the soil when bacteria metabolize it to the
gases N2, N2O. In that gaseous form nitrogen escapes to the
atmosphere in a process called denitrification. Nitrogen may be
leached from the soil if it is in the form of nitrate or lost to the
atmosphere as ammonia due to a chemical reaction of ammonium with
alkaline soil by way of a process called volatilization. Nitrogen is
added to soil by rainfall. Ammonium may also be sequestered in clay by
fixation.

Degradation
Land degradation refers to human-induced or natural process
which impairs the capacity of land to function. Soils are the critical
component in land degradation when it involves acidification,
contamination, desertification, erosion or salination.
While soil acidification of alkaline soils is beneficial, it degrades
land when it lowers crop productivity and increases soil
vulnerability to contamination and erosion.
Soil contamination at low levels is often within soil's capacity to
treat and assimilate.
Desertification is an environmental process of ecosystem degradation in
arid and semi-arid regions, often caused by human activity. It is a common
misconception that droughts cause desertification. Droughts are common
in arid and semiarid lands. Well-managed lands can recover from drought
when the rains return. Soil management tools include maintaining soil
nutrient and organic matter levels, reduced tillage and increased cover.
These practices help to control erosion and maintain productivity during
periods when moisture is available. Continued land abuse during droughts,
however, increases land degradation. Increased population and livestock
pressure on marginal lands accelerates desertification.

Soil Erosion is caused by wind, water, ice and movement in

response to gravity. Erosion is an intrinsic natural process, but in
many places it is increased by human land use. Poor land use
practices include deforestation, overgrazing and improper construction activity. Improved management can limit erosion by using
techniques like limiting disturbance during construction, avoiding
construction during erosion prone periods, intercepting runoff,
terrace-building, use of erosion-suppressing cover materials, and
planting trees or other soil binding plants.
Soil salination is the accumulation of free salts to such an extent that it leads
to degradation of the agricultural value of soils and vegetation.
Consequences include corrosion damage, reduced plant growth, erosion due
to loss of plant cover and soil structure, and water quality problems due to
sedimentation. Salination occurs due to a combination of natural and human
caused processes. Arid conditions favor salt accumulation. This is especially
apparent when soil parent material is saline. Irrigation of arid lands is
especially problematic. All irrigation water has some level of salinity.
Irrigation, especially when it involves leakage from canals and over irrigation
in the field, often raises the underlying water table. Soil salinity control
involves watertable control and flushing with higher levels of applied water in
combination with tile drainage or another form of subsurface drainage.