Blog Post #2

In "Katelyn's Backyard" there is a lot of soil, and it is not all the same. I saw example of granular and crumb soil, which are both very similar. I did not see platy, blocky, or columnar soil in my backyard. So I am just going to show you the two that I did see.

This picture to your left shows you the soil horizons. The first three horizons, O,A, and E, are the horizons I was able to quickly see in my backyard.

It is a little hard to see at first but if you look closely at this hole I started, it goes from a dark brown at the top to a light brown/tan on the bottom. The O Horizon contains the organic matter, so that would be the area with the grass and roots. Below that we see the A Horizon which is the dark brown which contains the soils organic matter. And then the lighter layer after that is the E Horizon, which represents the zone of maximum leaching. It is lighter because there are low organics and because of particles that are pushed downwards.

This "granular" soil is also in my backyard. This kind of soil is usually found in the A Horizon where there is other organic matter, like the grass and roots I mentioned before. This kind of soil allows water in quickly and easily. This soil has rounded surfaces.

 This soil is an example of "crumb" soil. This soil has rounded surfaces but smaller then crumb. This soil does not cling together, and almost look similar to that of sand. I also noticed that this soil looks more dry then the granular soil I found above. Water also circulates easily through this soil. Both of these structures contain sand, silt, and clay all grouped together, and also is located on the A Horizon.











http://soils.ifas.ufl.edu/faculty/grunwald/teaching/eSoilScience/introduction.shtml
http://colbydigssoil.com/2012/07/09/sizing-up-soil-structure/
ftp://ftp.fao.org/fi/cdrom/fao_training/FAO_Training/General/x6706e/x6706e07.htm
http://clasfaculty.ucdenver.edu/callen/1202/Soils/Soils.html