Soil

What is Soil?

Soil is a very important mixture of minerals, organic matter,

gases, liquids as well as a myriad of organisms that support plant

life an growth.

Why is soil important?

Soil is important for five specific reasons:-

1. Plants rely on it for many of their requirements and it

provides anchorage for plant roots. provides nutrient

minerals, particularly minerals such a nitrates,

potassium, salts etc.

2. Soil supports the life span of several organisms such as

earth worms and insects.

3. Soil also helps in the water purification process.

4. Soil provides a medium for several construction

processes i.e. buildings.

5. Soil helps in the recycling of nutrients after death.

How is soil formed?

Soil is formed from rock waste. Rock waste is formed through several methods of

weathering which include physical weathering, biological weathering, and chemical

weathering.

The rock particles are gradually colonized by flowering plants, followed by

lichens and then mosses. As the plants die and decay, their remains add organic

materials to the mineral particles of the rock waste. Other plants and animals then

begin to colonize the soil. Suitable agricultural soil takes thousands of years to

develop.

Soils in the Caribbean.

The Caribbean is a popular destination for those wanting to escape to

an island oasis and natural paradise. With over 115 islands including

Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Cuba, this tropical environment has several

types of rich soil that help support plant life, animals and the rest of the

ecosystem. It is important to know the most common soil types,

whether you are trying to landscape or understand the composition of

the islands better.

Clay soil is another of the types of soil, but clay has incredibly small

particles. This means that clay has little space between individual

particles, allowing for virtually no drainage. For this reason, clay soil

is bad for growing things in, because water tends to not be able to

escape, and it is difficult for root systems to break through the clay

layer. Clay soils tend to be much older than sandy soils, since it

makes many, many years for rock particles to break down to be small

enough to form clay.

The three types of soils.

Silty soil is one of the most fertile of the many types of soil, with rich nutrients and good drainage. It is slightly smaller in

size than sandy soil, but otherwise is very similar in composition, albeit with more nutrients and minerals. Silty soil

is generally quite dark and pungent, and is excellent for planting almost anything.

Silty Soil

Loamy soil is actually made up of a few different types of soil, with varying amounts of clay soil, silty soil, and sandy soil mixed together. Loamy soil holds water well because of the

heavy grittiness given from the sand, has exceptional drainage so that the water doesn’t build up too much and rot plant roots, and is nutrient rich. Loamy soil is the ideal soil for gardening, and wide ranges of loam can be found at most supply stores.

Loamy Soil

Problem Soils of the Caribbean

Type of Problem Soil

Brief Description of Properties/Status

Locations in the Caribbean

Salt affected soils

Saline soils and Acid sulphate soils Mainly in coastal areas on a restricted basis throughout the region.Haiti.

Peats Soils with more than 40% of the material consist of organic remains. The deposits accumulated in swamp and marsh conditions

Mainly in Guyana and small areas of Trinidad

Sands Soils are fragile and have poor nutrient and water holding properties. In Guyana, the sands are also acidic.

Large areas in Guyana, Belize and to a lesser extent , Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Trinidad

Rocky soils Soils have a high proportion of limestone which restrict soil manipulation and plant growth

Large areas of Turks and Caicos Islands, Bahamas and Cayman Islands

Polluted soils In South Trinidad and the Scotland District of Barbados where there are oil extractions soils are polluted by the crude petroleum products

Mainly with petroleum products in Trinidad and Barbados.

Mined soils The reclaimed bauxite lands of Jamaica are shallow, high in Calcium and prone to erosion. Owing to their prominence rehabilitation is essential.

Bauxite mining in Jamaica and Guyana. Gold mining in Guyana

Problem soils

Examples are acid sulphate soils of Guyana, Suriname and

Trinidad, peats of Guyana and Suriname, sands of Guyana,

Suriname, Belize, Cuba and the Dominican Republic as well as

petroleum polluted soils of Trinidad and Barbados.

These soils are being used for agriculture to some extent, but they

require special treatment for successful utilization in each case.

These countries are relatively financially stable, as opposed to Haiti.

Therefore, the necessary treatments are readily available in most

cases.

Guyana:

The coastal soils are fertile but acidic.

The fine-particle grayish blue clays of the coastal plain are composed of

alluvium from the Amazon (the mouth of which lies east of Guyana, on the

Brazilian coast) deposited by the south equatorial ocean current and of

much smaller amounts of alluvium from the country’s rivers.

They overlie white sands and clays and can support intensive agriculture

but must be subjected to fallowing to restore fertility.

JamaicaMore than half of the island’s surface is covered with white limestone,

beneath which are yellow limestone, older metamorphic rocks

(compact rocks formed by heat and pressure), and igneous rocks

(formed by the cooling of molten material).

The shallow soils of many upland areas are particularly susceptible to

erosion.

Alluvial soils on the coastal plains chiefly consist of deep loam and

clay, and residual clays cover the valley floors.

Jamaica produces bananas, Blue Mountain coffee, citrus, cocoa,

tobacco, coconuts, pimento and ginger.

The End! Remember to protect your environment.