2. Where does soil come from?
Rocks
Minerals
Organic Matter

4. Soil Properties Color – depends on organic matter and chemicals
Texture – mixture of sizes of particles
Structure – arrangement of soil particles
Consistency – combo of texture and structure
Porosity – loose or tightly packed together?
Moisture – percentage of water content
Chemistry – N, O, CO2

5. Soil Horizons
Run parallel to the earth’s surface and has characteristics different from horizons directly above or below.

7. O – “Organic” (plant & animal matter); dark in color; retains water and nutrients
A – organic & clay; dark in color
E – “Eluviation” (minerals removed by water seepage); coarse sand & silt; light in color
B – clay; aluminum & iron; red/yellow from deposited minerals
C – weathered bedrock
R – “Rock,” many different colors; no nutrients

8. Sagebrush-Cold Desert
Mollisol Profile

9. What are the main components of soil?
Mineral Matter
Air
Water
Organic Matter

12. Soil Particles
Note: clays are microscopic in size !

14. Clay minerals
photographed
with an electron
Microscope.
Note: they are plate
or flake like and
are stacked on top
of each other.
They are electrically
charged and act like
magnets that attract
and hold plant
nutrients.

15. Soil should have aggregates!

16. What causes soil erosion?
Water
Wind
No Vegetation

17. My Neighbor has my soil!

18. Rain drop erosion

19. Wind eroded soil

20. Rill Erosion

21. Gully Erosion
How did the Canyon Lands
of Utah form?

22. Vegetation protects soil

23. Our lives depend on preserving our topsoils.

24. SOIL CONSERVATION? Terracing Strip Cropping Contour Plowing Tilling
What are some practices Of
SOIL CONSERVATION?
Terracing
Strip Cropping
Contour Plowing
Tilling
Wind Breaks
Ground Covers

25. Cotton in Furrows

26. What are the FACTORS that make SOIL? TIME LAY OF THE LAND
1000’S TO 10,000’S OF YEARS
LAY OF THE LAND
TOPOGRAPHY
LIVING ORGANISMS
ANIMALS AND PLANTS
CLIMATE
HOT/COLD, WIND/RAIN
PARENT MATERIAL
ROCKS AND MINERALS

27. Topography
Physical land features

30. Strip Cropping
Contour Plowing

31. Contour Farming

32. Contour Farming

33. Tilling Soil on flat land

34. Furrow Irrigation

35. Strip Cropping

36. Strip Crop Farming