LAND & SOIL USESSydney Rasp and Jessie Dressler

Seneca Valley Senior High School

Soil Surveys Soils are grouped by similar properties

and behaviors Named for a town, landmark or feature

› Example: Titusville Series

Has a description of each soil series› Each description has information about

that series and a description of the soil profile

Soil Survey Map Index Every soil survey has a map index of

the listed county Has the location of major towns, state

highways and some country roads

The Soil Map Aerial photograph Also shows main land types and roads Town names and municipal boundaries

are shown to pinpoint the exact location of a property

Have boundaries of soil series

Types of Butler Co. Soil Series• Andover Loam• Arents-Urban Land Complex• Atkins Silt Loam• Braceville Loam• Brinkerton Silt Loam• Buchanan Loam• Canadice Silty Clay Loam• Caneadea Silt Loam • Cavode Silt Loam• Clymer Loam• Cookport Loam• Dumps, Industrial Waste• Dumps, Mines• Ernest Silt Loam• Fluvaquents, Coal Overwash• Fredon Loam• Frenchtown Silt Loam• Gilpin Silt Loam• Gilpin Channery Silt Loam• Gilpin-Upshur Complex• Gilpin-Weikert Channery Silt

Loam• Gilpin-Wharton Silt Loam• Gilpin-Wharton Complex• Gresham Silt Loam

• Hazleton Channery Loam• Hazleton Loam• Hazleton and Gilpin Soils• Monongahela Silt Loam• Philo Loam• Pits, Sand and gravel• Pope Loam• Riverhead Sandy Loam• Tilsit Silt Loam• Titusville Silt Loam• Titusville and Riverhead Soils• Udorthents, Acid Material, Gently Sloping• Udorthents, Acid Material, Moderately Steep• Udorthents, Acid Material, Very Steep• Udorthents, Calcareous Material, Moderately

Steep• Udorthents, Calcareous Material, Very

Steep• Urban land- Ernest Complex• Urban land- Gilpin Complex• Vandergrift- Cavode Silt Loams• Wharton Silt Loam• Wheeling Silt Loam

Example:

Soil Properties There are other additional information within

the engineering properties and other charts All of these properties are needed when

planning development of a piece of land Also contains information on limitations for

septic tanks, basements and roadways It allows one to determine:

› Depth to seasonal high water tables › Depths to bedrock› Land use limiting factors

Vocabulary! Alluvial Fan- low outspread mass of

soil and/or rock deposited by a stream shaped like an open fan (triangle) or cone. Commonly found at the mouth of streams where they enter a larger valley.

Bench- a nearly level to gently sloping platform generally a bedrock controlled erosional surface on a mountainside or hillside.

Vocabulary! Bog- A waterlogged swampy area consisting

of mostly organic material, such as mosses, sphagnum, sedges and woody materials.

Colluvium- soil material that has accumulated at a footslope of a ridge or mountain side to due to mass soil movement or landslide.

Depression- a relatively sunken part of the Earth’s surface. A low lying area surrounded by higher ground, such as a sinkhole.

Vocabulary! Drainageway- a general term used to describe a

long narrow water course that at sometime has concentrated water flow, but lacks a channel or has a small defined channel. Water flow intermittent.

Drift(glacial)- a general term applied to all material transported and deposited by glacial ice. The term applies to deposits that no longer contains glaciers

Flood Plain- a near plain that boarders a stream and is subject to flooding. Soil material has been deposited by stream overflow and deposition.

Vocabulary! Footslope- a gentle to moderate

sloping area at the base of a side slope or mountain slope .

Head slope- a concave surface at the end of a drainageway

Interfluve- a broad upland area or ridge top between two valleys or waterways that sheds water into those valleys or water ways

Vocabulary! Karst- topography with sink holes and under

ground drainage formed in limestone, general has few if any streams except those formed by large springs.

Local Alluvium- soil deposited in drainage ways and on footslopes by sheet, rill, and gully erosion of adjacent and nearby slopes created by storm runoff rather than by overflowing streams

Loess- soil material transported and deposited by wind and predominately of silt size

Vocabulary! Mountain- the natural land rising more than

1000ft above the low lands Mountain slope- the side slope of a

mountain between summit and the foot Nose slope- the projecting end of a interfluve

generally convex contours up and down slope Piedmont- in the United States the piedmont

is a low plateau extending from New Jersey thru Pennsylvania to Alabama and lying east of the Appalachian

Vocabulary! Plateau- a relatively large flat area at high

elevations near the summit and general 330ft above adjacent low lying areas

Residuum- unconsolidated weathered or partly weathered soil material that accumulates in place by disintegration of bedrock

Side Slope- a slope between a drainage way and summit or interfluve

Sinkhole- a closed depression formed in limestone by solution of the bedrock and formed by the collapse of the overlying soil

Vocabulary! Stream Terrace- A platform in a stream valley

parallel to the stream representing an abandoned flood plain at higher elevation than current day flood plans

Summit- the topographically highest position with a plain to convex nearly level to the sloping surface

Upland- a general term for higher ground in contrast to valley, flood plain, or other low lying ground

Valley- an elongated relatively large external drained depression of the Earth primarily formed between mountains by erosion or glacial activity

Soil Structure The structure is a naturally occurring

arrangement of soil particles in the aggregated that result from the soil forming process

The structure is described in three terms› Grade› Size› Shape

Soil Structure: Grade Structureless- no units observable in a

hand sample or close observation› Sand is an example “structureless single

grain” soil where the individual grains area loose and don’t form aggregates

› “Structureless massive” is a continuous layers of soil that do not show aggregates in place or in a hand sample

› Dense glacial till and the interior of some fragipans are massive single unit showing no development

Soil Structure: Grade cont. Weak- structural units are barely

observable in place or in hand sample Moderate- units are well formed and

evident in place or in a hand sample Strong- units are distinct and separate

easily when disturbed

Soil Structure: SizeGranular(mm)

Prismatic(mm)

Angular and subangular blocky(mm)

Platy(mm)

Very fine(very thin)

<1 <10 <5 <1

Fine(thin) 1-2 10-20 5-10 1-2Medium 2-5 20-50 10-20 2-5Course(thick)

5-10 50-100 20-50 5-10

Very Course(very thick)

>10 >100 >50 >10

Soil Structure: Shape Granular- the individual unites are approximately

spherical or polyhedral and are curved or very irregular faces, common in surface horizons

Prismatic- units are elongated vertically with flat to rounded vertical surfaces, tops are general flat, common structure of fragipans

Subangular blocky- unites are somewhat rounded block like or with flat to slightly rounded polyhedral surfaces, common in subsurface horizons

Angular blocky- units are block like with sharp edges, common in heavy textured subsurface horizons

Platy- the units are flat and plate like and usual oriented horizontally, common in compacted surfaces and plough pans

Soil Texture Pyramid

Formation of Soils Soil begins with solid rock Forces of nature have turned rock into

soils Weathering- the natural process where

rock is broken into smaller pieces› Heat and water help with the weathering

process

Composition of Soil Made of 4 substances

› 45% mineral particles› 5% organic matter› 50% air and water

Composition of Soil

Mineral Matter

Organic Matter

Air Water

Soil Profile Arrangement and properties of the

various soil layers Layers are:

› Top soil- top layer, most nutrient rich› Sub soil- little or no organic matter is

present› Parent material- lower layer from which the

top and sub soils have developed

Soil Classification Soils are grouped according to:

› agronomic use- ex: good wheat soil, poor corn soil

› Color- ex: black soil, red soil› Organic Matter Content- ex: mineral soil,

muck soil› Texture- ex: sandy, loam› Moisture Condition- ex: wet soil, dry soil

Soil Management There are 4 types:

› Erosion› Conservation› Compaction› Drainage

Erosion Removal of soil material by wind or

water moving over the land Natural process and most hills and

valleys are the product of water 2 different types:

› Sheet and rill- removal of top soil from a field; soil washes from field in thin layers or sheets from small channels or rills

› Gully- deep ditches cut by flowing water

Conservation Preventing or stopping erosion Best way to control erosion is to keep

the soil covered Done with living plants, or mulch of

dead plant residue such as crop residue or dead leaves

Preparing the land for planting in a way that leaves crop residue on the soil surface is called conservation tillage

Compaction Current concern about soil compaction is in

the top layer (plow layer) and in the sub soil because of damage to soil structure by soil compaction

Damage is caused by› Larger and heavier farm equipment› Increased specialization in crop production› Increased traffic and tillage necessary for

application and incorporation of fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides

› Earlier seed bed preparation and planting when soils are often wet and susceptible to compaction

Water Relations Size, shape and arrangement of the

soil particles and pores determine the ability of a soil to retain water

Larger pores conduct more water more rapidly than smaller pores