INTRO TO SOIL & HYDROGEOLOGY

EHSH 113

Cheah Wai Yan

Lecturer

Department of Environmental Health

Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences
MAHSA University
 Introduction to soil & hydrogeology
Sub- topics:

• Component of earth structure

• Introduction to soil
• Soil formation factors
• Soil horizons
• Soil components
• The importance of soil to plants, animals and
human
 LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the session, the students should be able to:

 Describe the earth structure and its components

 Define soil
 Describe the importance of soil to plants, animals and
human
 Explain the formation and characteristics of soil horizons
SOILs sustain life!!
Earth component
Biosphere
 Global ecological system integrating all living
beings and also include the elements of lithosphere,
hydrosphere and atmosphere.

 Includes all form of life and their products both on

land and in the sea

 Solid, liquid & gas

 Water, organic substances and skeletal matter
Hydrosphere
 Includes all form of water.
 The combined mass of water found on, under, and
over the surface of a planet.

 Eg :
 Snow
 Ice
 Fresh and salt water
 Lakes and ponds etc.
Lithosphere
 Rigid & outermost shell of rigid mantle
 Comprise of crust + upper portion of mantle
 Lithosphere is underlain by asthenosphere
(hotter & deeper part of upper mantle)
Earth structure
CONT

 Internal structure of the earth

which includes :

 Crust
 Normal silicate rocks such
as granite and basalt –
solid
 Mantle
 Ferromagnesium-rich
silicate rocks – solid
 Core
 Iron-nicked alloy – liquid
upper part and solid lower
part
Earth structure

EARTH STRUCTURE TYPES PHYSICAL CHEMICAL

/ CHARACTERISTICS STRUCTURE COMPOSITION
CRUST CONTINENTAL SOLID Ca, Na, Al
OCEANIC SOLID Ca, Na, Al
MANTLE UPPER MANTLE SOLID pyroxenes,
LOWER MANTLE SEMISOLID ferromagnesium
silicate
CORE OUTER CORE liquid FERUM,
INNER CORE solid NICKLE
What is soil?

 Soil can be defined as the solid material on the earth

surface that result from the interaction of weathering
and biological activity on the parent material

 Component of soil:
 solids (minerals and organic matter)
 liquid (water)
 gases (air)
Soil formation - pedogenesis

 Combined effects of physical, chemical, biological

and anthropogenic process on soil parent material
resulting in the formation of soil horizons

 Parent material : Is the material from which the soil

develops from and can vary from solid rock to deposit
 It can be weathered rocks, decomposed things, or
transported soil from other area
 Soil typically get its structure and minerals from their
parent material
Soil formation - pedogenesis

 A specific layer in the soil

which parallels the land
surface and possesses
physical characteristics
which differ from the layers
above and beneath
Soil horizon
Soil horizon
Soil formation - pedogenesis
Soil layer

 ORGANIC / O HORIZON

 The top of soil

 ‘Organic layer’.
 dark layer
 Nutrient rich
 support plant growth
 Soil layer

 A HORIZON

 Zone of leaching
 It lies just below the O horizon
 This layer also has some amount
of humus in it
 It is darker than the layers below.
 Soil organisms concentrated here
Soil layer
 B HORIZON

 Zone of accumulation

 Has lighter colour than above layer

 Almost no organic material, and

almost have all minerals
 iron or aluminium

 It doesn’t support plant growth

 Soil layer

 C HORIZON

 Zone of weathering
 Mainly made of large rocks or
lumps of partially broken bedrock
 Partially altered parent materials
 It is considered the transition layer
between soil and parent material
 No organic matter contents
 No soil organism
Soil layer

 BEDROCK / R HORIZON

 Unweathered rock with parent

materials
 The deepest layer
 No organic matter content
 No soil organism
 https://www.classzone.com/books/ml_science_share/v
is_sim/esm05_pg113_soil/esm05_pg113_soil.swf
 http://www.wiley.com/college/strahler/0471480533/an
imations/ch21_animations/animation1.html
Component of soil
Component of soil - mineral

 Inorganic material :

 Derived from the weathering bedrock

 Extremely varies in size and composition
 large particles like sand and gravel
 very tiny particles like silt and clay
 Very important as a source of mineral nutrients for
plant (Iron and Calcium)
Cont..
 Primary mineral :

 Formed at high temperature and pressure, under

reducing condition without free oxygen
 Mainly present in soil as sand and silt particles
 Similar to parent materials from which they
formed
 Often solidification from magma
 Eg : Quartz, Feldspars, Muscovite, Pyroxene,
Olivine
Primary mineral
Primary mineral

Sand Silt
Secondary mineral
 Secondary mineral :

 Formed at lower temperature and pressure through

oxidation
 They are the weathering product of primary mineral
 Through alteration of their structure
 Through precipitation
 Usually present in soil as clay particles
 Eg : Silicate clay mineral, soluble mineral, Amorphus
aluminosilicates
Secondary mineral
 The element that are found in soils in the highest quantities are
O, Si, Al, Fe, C, Ca, K, Na, Mg.
 These are major element found in the earth’s crust and in
sediments
1° vs. 2°
Component of soil - water

 Water and air constantly compete for pore space in soils

 Most of time soil pores are not full of water

 Heavy storm@ swamps- soil saturated with water and little
@ no air is present in pores

 Water participates in geochemical cycles by

 weathering geological substrates
 leaching material to groundwater
 moving ions and particles through soil profile
Component of soil – organic
matter
 Form cation exchange complex necessary for holding applied
nutrient in the soil

 Provide nutrient for crops as it decomposes

 Soil aggregation is improved by increased organic matter content,

hence maintain/improve :

 Soil structure (increase water-holding & nutrient-holding capacity)

 Drainage (water infiltration)
 Aeration (gas exchange of oxygen & carbon dioxide)

 Increasing moisture retention and consequently the drought

tolerance of the crop
Component of soil – organic
matter
 Component of soil – organic
matter
 A soil with adequate level of organic matter will be:

 Have increased nutrient retention

 Be easier to work and plow
 Resistance to soil crusting and compaction
 Greater fertility
 Better root growth of crops
Component of soil – air

 The gaseous phase is important for

supplying oxygen to plant roots for
respiration
The importance of soil

 Filter of water and wastes

 Medium of crop production
 Producer and absorber of gases
 Medium for plant growth
 Home to organisms (plants, animals and others)
 Snapshot of geologic, climatic, biological, and human
history
 Source material for construction, medicine, art, etc.
 Waste decomposer
The importance of soil

 Food and other biomass production

 Environmental Interaction: storage, filtering, and

transformation

 Biological habitat

 Source of raw material

 Platform for man-made structures : buildings, highways

Tutorial 1

What are the soil forming influencing

factors?
Discuss all these factors.
END OF LECTURE