What is the land? How soil formed?

Here are the basic knowledge of the soil as well as the process of soil formation, invite you to consult!

What is the land?

Soil in general terminology is matter located on the surface of the Earth, capable of supporting the growth of plants and serving as habitat of animal life forms from microorganisms to small animals.

Soil or soil is the outer layer of the lithosphere that is naturally modified under the combined effect of water, air, and organisms.

Composition of soil

The main components of soil are: minerals, water, air, humus and other organisms from microorganisms to insects, arthropods, etc.

Soil has a very characteristic morphological structure, considering a soil profile can see the stratification from top to bottom as follows:

1. The litter floor and grass roots are decomposed at different levels.
2. The humus layer is usually darker, concentrating organic matter and soil nutrients.
3. The floor washes away because a part of the material is washed away.
4. The accumulation layer contains dissolved substances and washed clay particles from the upper layer.
5. The parent rock layer is altered a little but still retains its composition.
6. The bedrock has not been weathered or transformed.
7. Each type of soil that arises on each type of rock, in similar weather and climate conditions, has the same type of structure and thickness.

The mineral composition of the soil consists of three main types: inorganic minerals, organic minerals and organic matter . Inorganic minerals are fragments of mineral or broken stone that have been decomposed into secondary minerals. Organic matter is the corpse of plants and animals that have been decomposed by the microorganisms in the soil. Organic minerals are mainly salts humat caused by organic matter after decomposition. In addition to the above types, water, air, organisms and colloidal clay interact with each other to form an interactive system of circulation cycles of nutrient nitrogen, phosphorus, etc.

Chemical elements in the soil exist in the form of inorganic and organic compounds with volatile content and depend on the process of soil formation. The chemical composition of soil and parent rock at the early stages of soil formation is closely related. Later, the chemical composition of the soil is highly dependent on soil development, chemical, physical and biological processes in soil and human impact.

Land formation

Soil formation is a long and complex process that can divide soil formation processes into three groups: Weathering process, process of accumulation and change of organic matter in soil, process of mineral migration Organic substances and materials in soil. Participation in soil formation has the following factors: Original rock, creature, climate regime, topography, time. The elements on the complex interaction together create the diversity of soil types on the lithosphere surface.

In addition to the process of soil formation, topography of the Earth's surface is also subject to the complex impact of many other natural phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanoes, elevation and subsidence of the surface, the impact of rainwater and currents. flowing, ocean waves, wind, ice and human activity.