DYA10013

SOIL SCIENCE

JABATAN AGROTEKNOLOGI & BIO-INDUSTRI

POLITEKNIK JELI KELANTAN

CLO 1 1.Explain basic knowledge of soil management, soil fertility, soil conservation
and the management of problematic soil in agrotechnology. (C2)

CLO 2 2. Organize soil identification methods, fertilizer identifications and erosion

problem controlling methods and practices in soil conservation. (P3)

CLO 3 3. Discuss management of problem soil and soil conservation practices for
optimizing yield. (A2)
CHAPTERS
This topic defines soil, soil formation process and explains soil profile and
1) Introduction To Soil horizon

This topic describes physical and chemistry attributes of soil and soil
2) Soil Characteristics organisms' roles

This topic related to plant nutrient functions and crop symptoms due to nutrient
3) Soil Fertility Management deficiencies. It also includes soil fertility management principles and practices
such as fertilization, liming, mulching usage and drainage.

4) Soil Erosion and Conservation This topic explains erosion problem and controlling method in soil conservation.

This topic explains problem soil characteristics, controlling method and

5) Management Of Problem Soil management practices of problem soil.
CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION TO SOIL
LEARNING OUTCOMES
UPON COMPLETION OF THIS TOPIC, STUDENT SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
1.1 DEFINE SOIL
1.2 EXPLAIN SOIL FORMATION PROCESS
WHAT IS SOIL?

WATER

MINERALS

AIR
ORGANIC
MATTER
DEFINITION:
•SOFT
•NATURAL BODY
•SUSTAINING LIFE (INCL.SUPPORT PLANT GROWTH)
•DYNAMICALLY CHANGING
•AT THE EARTH SURFACE
What is a SOIL?

1. A dynamic natural body composed of

mineral and organic materials and
living forms in which plants grow.
- Brady and Weil, 2000.

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2. Soils are complex mixtures of minerals, water, air, and
organic matter (both dead and alive), forming at the surface
of land.
- www.soils.org

3. Soil as a general term denotes the unconsolidated (loose),

thin, variable layer of mineral and organic material, usually
biologically active, that covers most of the earth’s land
surface.

- Singer, M.J. and D.N. Munns. 1999.

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4. SOIL : SOLID MATERIAL ON THE EARTH’S SURFACE THAT RESULTS FROM
THE INTERACTION OF WEATHERING AND BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY ON THE PARENT
MATERIAL OR UNDERLYING HARD ROCK.
(THE MACAULAY INSTITUTE)

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Soil Tiny pieces of
weathered
rock

Remains of dead
plants Air with oxygen
Water
and animals
In pores, spaces between the
pieces of weathered rock

air

water
AVERAGE SOIL COMPOSITION
25% Water 45% Inorganic (mineral
materials)

Pore
space Solids 50%

{
50%
}
25% Air 5% Organic Matter
SOIL BENEATH OUR FEET
 SOIL MANAGEMENT- WHY
Soil management concerns all operations, practices and
treatments used to protect soil and enhance its performance.

• NUTRIENT • TILLAGE - ESPECIALLY

MANAGEMENT CAN HELP
REDUCED-TILLAGE OR
TO IMPROVE THE
NO-TILL OPERATIONS
FERTILITY OF THE SOIL
• Cover crops - keep the
• Crop rotations - for row soil anchored and
crops alternate high- covered in off-seasons
residue crops with so that the soil is not
lower-residue crops eroded by wind and rain.
ADVANTAGES OF SOIL MANAGEMENT

MAINTAIN SOIL RESTORE SOIL FERTILITY MAKE THE HELPS INCREASE YIELD
FERTILITY AGRICULTURAL PROCESS
AN ECONOMIC ONE

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SOIL NUTRIENTS
WHY ARE SOILS
IMPORTANT?
• MEDIUM OF CROP PRODUCTION • GREAT INTEGRATOR
• PRODUCER AND • SNAPSHOT OF GEOLOGIC, CLIMATIC,
ABSORBER OF GASES BIOLOGICAL, AND HUMAN HISTORY

• MEDIUM FOR PLANT GROWTH • WASTE DECOMPOSER

• HOME TO ORGANISMS • SOURCE MATERIAL FOR CONSTRUCTION,
(PLANTS, ANIMALS AND OTHERS) MEDICINE, ART, ETC.

• ESSENTIAL NATURAL RESOURCE • FILTER OF WATER AND WASTES

 WHY ARE SOILS
IMPORTANT?

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1.2 FROM WHERE SOIL COME FROM
 SOIL FORMATION
• SOIL FORMATION = 1 INCH OF TOP SOIL TAKES ABOUT 500
YEARS
• SOILS VARY FROM ONE LOCATION TO ANOTHER IN THE
WORLD – BASED ON PARENT MATERIALS.

• WHAT IS SOIL MADE OFF??

• SOIL IS DEVELOPED FROM ROCKS AND MINERALS THAT

UNDERGO WEATHERING PROCESS TO FORM SOIL.

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 WEATHERING PROCESS
DEFINE WEATHERING PROCESS
- IS THE PROCESSES THAT OCCUR TO BREAK DOWN ROCK INTO
SOIL

- PROCESS IN WHICH ROCKS AND MINERAL UNDERGO

DISINTEGRATION AND DECOMPOSITION DUE TO REACTION
WITH AIR, WATER AND LIVING ORGANISM.

3 TYPE OF WEATHERING

(a) PHYSICAL
(b) CHEMICAL
(c) BIOLOGICAL

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PHYSICAL WEATHERING PHYSICAL WEATHERING BREAKS
ROCKS INTO SMALL MINERAL
PARTICLES.

- DISINTEGRATION OF ROCKS AND MINERAL TO SMALLER

SIZE - process occurs to make the change; processes that
break rock apart.
- NO CHEMICAL COMPOSITION CHANGES.
Eg :
Abrasion – wind & water
Frost wedging – water expands when it freezes (ice is
present)
Exfoliation – expansion of rock
CHEMICAL WEATHERING CHEMICAL WEATHERING DISSOLVES
AND CHANGES MINERALS AT THE
EARTH’S SURFACE.
ROCKS AND MINERAL UNDERGO CHEMICAL REACTION &
FORM NEW MINERALS WITH DIFFERENT
CHARACTERISTICS FROM THE ORIGINAL MINERALS –

Rock reacts with water, gases and solutions (may be

acidic); will add or remove elements from minerals.
-FORMING SOLUBLE MATERIALS.

Eg:
Dissolution – several common minerals dissolve in water
Oxidation - oxygen combines with iron-bearing silicate
minerals causing "rusting“
Hydrolysis – affected by water (feldspar  clay , quartz 
sand)
 Decomposing organic material from plants and animals mixes
with accumulated soil minerals.

- PLANTS AND ANIMALS - create chemical weathering through

release of acidic compounds
WEATHERING

-Lichens, fungi  chemically and physically change rock

BIOLOGICAL
 Parent Biota (Living
Climate
Material Organism)
Factors of Soil

Time Topography
Formation

Factors of
Soil
Formation 25
 PARENT MATERIAL
Factors of Soil Formation

PRIMARY MATERIALS (ROCKS &

MINERAL) FROM WHICH THE SOIL IS
MADE
■ MAIN PM IN MALAYSIA ARE :
• GRANITE
• LIMESTONE
• BASALT
• SANDSTONE
• ALLUVIUM

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 BIOTA
Climate (LIVING Topography Time
ORGANISM)

temperature & - activity of living earth surface take thousands,

precipitation plants, animals and contour and in some cases
(Physical and decomposition of -influence the even millions of
chemical organic waste and rate of runoff years
weathering)
Factors of Soil Formation

residue & erosion from

-accumulation of soil surface
-warmer = faster soil organic matter in
development , the upper layers of
cooler = slower soil soil
development
AGE IN YEARS
0 10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000
A - topsoil
E-Eluviated
B- Subsoil
C-Parent
Material
R- Bedrock
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4 BASIC
PROCESSES IN
THE SOIL
• ADDITION • TRANSLOCATION

• LOSSES • TRANSFORMATION
 Additions of materials such as
plant residues, dust, and salts, to
the soil profile from outside
ADDITIONS
sources.

• Rain adds WATER.

• Dust adds MINERALS.
• Animal waste add ORGANIC MATTER and
NUTRIENTS.
• Humans add FERTILIZER.
 Losses of materials, such as
water, eroded particles,
LOSSES oxidized organic matter, and
leached salts from the soil
profile.

• WATER evaporates into the air.

• Soil particles WASH AWAY in storms.
• ORGANIC MATTER may compose into carbon
dioxide.
• NUTRIENTS and MINERALS leach into
groundwater or are taken up by plants.
 MOVEMENT WITHIN THE SOIL Translocations of organic and

TRANSLOCATIONS
inorganic materials out of the
profile or from one horizon up or
down to another. Often
translocations result in
accumulations of materials in a
particular horizon, such as the
accumulation of carbonates in
the lower horizons of a semi- arid
region soil.

• GRAVITY pull WATER down from top to bottom.

• EVAPORATING WATER draws minerals up from
bottom to top
• ORGANISMS carry materials every direction.
 (ONE COMPONENT CHANGES TO ANOTHER)
Transformations such as rock
weathering and organic matter
TRANSFORMATIONS decomposition that destroy
some soil constituents and
synthesize others. the
weathering of primary minerals
to secondary minerals or the
decomposition of organic
matter.

• Dead leaves decompose into HUMUS.

• Hard rock WEATHERS into soft clay
• Oxygen REACTS with iron, “rusting” the soil into a reddish
color.
SOIL PROFILE DEFINITION

• IT IS THE VERTICAL SECTION THROUGH THE SOIL AND

EXTENDING INTO THE UNWEATHER PARENT
MATERIALS AND EXPOSING ALL THE HORIZONS
Horizon – They are the layers of the
different types of soil and the different
depths that the layers will be located
at.

Soil horizons are the layers in a soil

profile used to classify soil types.

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A

Granular

Platy

B
Blocky

C
Massive
ACTIVITY 1: STUDENTS HAVE TO DRAW A
TABLE TO SHOW DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
SOIL PROFILE
( O,A,B,C,R)

LABEL/NAME
DEPTH
COLOR
CONTENT
MAJOR SOIL TYPES
IN MALAYSIA
&
SOIL SERIES IN
MALAYSIA
ORGANIC SOIL AND MINERAL SOIL
ORGANIC SOIL MINERAL SOIL
 SOIL CLASSIFICATIONMALAYSIA
• BASED ON THE SOIL TAXONOMY, SOIL IS DERIVED IN 2 CRITERIA WHICH IS THE :
• ORGANIC SOIL
• SOIL WITH MORE THAN 20% ORGANIC CARBON CONTENT
• GENERALLY FORMED IN WATERLOGGED CONDITIONS (WETLANDS, SWAMPS, BOGS, MARSH)
• RATE OF DECOMPOSITION OF PLANT REMAINS VERY SLOW DUE TO A DEFICIT OF OXYGEN (ANAEROBIC - SUPPORT
THE PRESERVATION OF THE LITTER AND VEGETATION RESIDUES AND THEIR GRADUAL TRANSFORMATION TO PEAT)
Organic soil

• PEAT FORMATION IS A SLOW PROCESS.

• IN SOME REGION, PEAT HAS BEEN ACCUMULATION OVER THE LAST 10,000 YEARS. PEAT DEPOSITS ARE, ON AVERAGE,
TWO OR THREE METRES THICK AND, IN SOME CASES, CAN BE UP TO 10 M THICK.
MINERAL SOILS ARE DEFINED AS THOSE CONTAINING LESS THAN 20%
OF
ORGANIC CARBON. ORGANIC CARBON IN PERMAFROST - AFFECTED
MINERAL SOIL BUILDS UP THROUGH THREE MAIN PROCESSES:
• THE ACCUMULATION OF POORLY-DECOMPOSED VEGETATION
RESIDUES (LITTER) ON THE TOPSOIL;
• CRYOTURBATION, WHICH RESULTS IN THE MIXING OF FRAGMENTS
FROM THE SURFACE ORGANIC HORIZONS WITH MINERAL MATERIAL
FROM DEEPER LAYERS;
• THE MIGRATION OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER TOWARDS THE
FREEZING FRONT. THIS PROCESS LEADS TO THE FORMATION OF A
HUMUS HORIZON ON TOP OF THE PERMAFROST TABLE
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