Soil Characteristics

We can define as soil all that surface that is at the level of the earth's surface, hills, mountains or under the sea, and that it can be made of different materials, both biologically suitable and unsuitable for the preservation of the lifetime.

The word soil derives from the Latin word "solum" and is what was formerly called the surface of planet earth.

The soil characteristics They are very varied, going from the arid to the fertile and from the fertile to the inert and artificial.

Soil characteristics:

Concept.- The concept of soil is extremely old, and it is the way in which the earth's surface was defined, the word Latin from which it derives, it had an original expression on the sole of the foot, and encompassed everything that could be to walk. Today the concept of soil has more parameters, among which the biological and chemical qualities of its composition, the geographical and climatic configuration stand out.

Types of soil.- The soil or soils have been classified according to their qualities, since there are many divergences between the properties of the soil and the effects produced by the climate and the atmosphere on it.

• Volcanic soil
• Clay floor
• Saline soil
• Tropical soil
• Rocky ground

Soil layers.- The soil is made up of three main layers:

• Simple soil or top layer
• Subsoil
• Layer or bedrock

Some characteristics emerge from these layers, depending on the thickness and consistency of the layers.

• Top layer.- It contains the necessary nutrients for plants and it is known that without this layer the subsistence of life on planet earth is impossible and the life cycle would not occur.
• Subsoil.- This also contains food and minerals, but they are only absorbed by large plants such as trees and large shrubs.
• Bedrock.- This is the deepest layer of the superficial soil, and does not provide large amounts of nutrients, but allows the maintenance of the previous two by holding and maintaining water.

Soil composition.- Although these parameters totally change depending on the region, they all have these components, to a greater or lesser degree.

• Mineral matter
• Organic material
• Air
• Water.

Of those just mentioned, they change fully in proportion, but all are contained, and those that vary the most are organic matter, water, and the type of mineral composition.

Erosion.- This is a natural phenomenon that occurs for various reasons:

• Thermal changes.
• Wind circulation
• Ice production
• Water transfer

This can produce damage or benefits and is part of nature and the accelerated processes of these phenomena are generally accelerated by human action.

Phyto restoration.- This process was designed by using specific plants that have the ability to eliminate contaminants that are present on the ground and in the water, this system serves to naturally remove the pesticides and pollutants exposed by the human.

Bio-restoration.- This is a process that occurs in nature, in which microorganisms restore the natural state of the soil, in where they accommodate the soil removing toxins, pollutants turning them into carbon dioxide and harmless minerals.

This process has been copied by humans, placing the necessary microorganisms on the damaged soils to carry out this process, which, depending on the damage, will take a certain period of time.

Fertilization.- Fertilization is the application of chemical, mineral or vegetable products that are necessary to be able to cultivate, the act of fertilizing consists of adding ingredients that do not exist in a natural state, have been consumed or are necessary; In a practical sense, it can be said that it is the artificial recovery of the natural or optimal state of the soil.

Contamination.- Pollution is understood as the unnecessary change of the necessary characteristics of the earth, both in the physical, chemical or biological sense of the environment or the surface. These changes are mostly due to human actions, although there may be geological reactions, such as volcanoes, tornadoes, etc.

The soil and the life cycle.- All living beings are in the life cycle, but the soil without being one of the living beings is part of containing the nutrients necessary for plant growth. The soil also has biological residues product of the decomposition of plants and dead animals, it protects bacteria, worms and insects that together with humidity and part of the climate return to the soil but from the most important points within the life cycle.

Soil classification.- Soils have been classified today, and after some scientific controversies it was arrived at a universally accepted result, separated by type of content, climate, fertility and height.

• Leptosols.- They are very thin soils, which are about a foot above the hard rock.
• Regosols.- Soils formed by the so-called mother rock.
• Calcisols.- Soils with high calcium content "CaCO₃”That are in a thickness of up to one hundred and thirty centimeters.
• Feozems.- They are very fertile soils and their surface is very dark, with large amounts of nutrients and organic matter.
• Vertisols.- They are soils with a high content of clay that reaches more than 40% and have a thickness of around 50 centimeters from the rocky base.
• Arenosols.- These are the soils with the highest concentration of sand, which reaches 130 centimeters thick.
• Cambisols.- They are very poorly developed soils with light color, these show changes in structure or consistency due to the weather.
• Levisols.- These are soils that are saturated in acillas, are found in high places and in any climate, except the tropical and subtropical.
• Gleysols.- Its name comes from water and those who are permanently saturated with water are called.
• Alisols.- These are the soils that have large amounts of aluminum and are only found in tropical and subtropical climates.