How would you describe the process of soil formation?
1 Answer
Mar 27, 2017
Soil formation comprises two processes: weathering and soil development
Explanation:
Weathering (such as drying and wetting/freezing and thawing processes) makes soil from a consolidated rock (mother material) building smaller particles. These particles are loose (not massive).
Loose material gets some properties with time (such as organic content buildup). According to Miller and Donahue (1995) "the change from a solid mass to loose soil material and other changes within the soil profile ocur simultaneously".
Soil formation is used to mean these two processes.
Reference:
Miller, R. W. and Donahue., R. L. (1995). Soils in Our Environment. (7th Edition) (page 17). Prentice Hall, Inc. A Simon & Schuster Company. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, USA.
