facts about soil

Principal Pedogenic Processes

A large number of processes are responsible for the formation of soils. This fact is evident by the large number of different types of soils that have been classified by soil scientists. However, at the macro-scale we can suggest that there are five main principal pedogenic processes acting on soils. These processes are laterization, podzolization, calcification, salinization, and gleization.

Laterization is a pedogenic process common to soils found in tropical and subtropical environments. High temperatures and heavy precipitation result in the rapid weathering of rocks and minerals. Movements of large amounts of water through the soil cause eluviation and leaching to occur. Almost all of the byproducts of weathering, very simple small compounds or nutrient ions, are translocated out of the soil profile by leaching if not taken up by plants for nutrition. The two exceptions to this process are iron and aluminum compounds. Iron oxides give tropical soils their unique reddish coloring. Heavy leaching also causes these soils to have an acidic pH because of the net loss of base cations.