ENV-1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Loam, Porosity, Rangeland
13 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Soil characteristics: equal amounts of sediment grain size in soil = loam, if one sediment size dominates adjectives of sandy, silty, clayey loam are used. Porosity- amount of holes or pore space in soil; pores hold h2o and gasses. Permeability: interconnection of pores; controls movement of h2o, gases and nutrients. Soil structure- determines how particles fit together; may control porosity and permeability. Soil types: over 17,000 types described from u. s. soil classifications, 5 major types, spodosols- northern conifer forest-canada and northern u. s. Cold climate, good precipitation, good drainage: o acidic, a think acidic sand, b thick al and fe rich with washed in clays from a. Moderate to poor farmland: alisols temperate deciduous forests-eastern central u. s. and western mountains and coast. Hot summer, cold winter, good precipitation and drainage: o- nearly neutral, a- sand and few organics, b- sand and washed in clay. Moderate farmland must have fertilizer when forest removed: mollisols temperate, semi-arid grassland, mid-west prairies.
