Describe the composition of the soil, the rhizosphere, and humus.

Human Anatomy & Physiology (11th Edition)
11th Edition
ISBN:9780134580999
Author:Elaine N. Marieb, Katja N. Hoehn
Publisher:Elaine N. Marieb, Katja N. Hoehn
Chapter1: The Human Body: An Orientation
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Describe the composition of the soil, the rhizosphere, and humus.

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Introduction

The top layer of the planet is called the lithosphere. Soil is the loose stuff on the surface of the lithosphere and the minerals found in this layer supply a variety of nutrients to life-forms. Lithosphere is the main life supporting system that decides the diversity of life in an area. It is the one of the main natural resource essential for survival and development. Soil is formed due to interaction between weathering of rocks, rain, wind, temperature (physical components) and plants, animals and microbes (biological components). It is formed by combined action of climatic factors such as temperature, rainfall, light etc. and biotic factors such as plants and microbes on earth crust.

The structure of soil is also called soil profile. It represents the vertical section of earth crust made up of a succession of horizontal layers which varies in thickness, colour, texture, acidity, porosity etc. Soils can be divided into two groups: organic soils are those that are formed from sedimentation and primarily composed of organic matter, while those that are formed from the weathering of rocks and are primarily composed of inorganic material are called mineral soils.

Composition of soil

It consists of four types of rock particles which differ in their size, nature and texture. These four types as follows 

  1. Gravels - The size of the gravel particles is greater than 2mm in diameter and hence, these particles can be picked up by hand.
  2. Sand particles - The size of the sand particles ranges from 0.05mm to 2.00mm and hence, these particles can be seen easily with naked eyes. These particles are coarse to touch.
  3. Silt particles - The size of the silt particles ranges between 0.005 to 0.05mm.
  4. Clay particles - The size of the clay particles ranges less than 0.005 mm and hence are the smallest soil particles.

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