UNIVERSITY OF VENDA

PROJECT NO.1

TITLE : SOIL PROFILES
MODULE NAME: INTRODUCTION TO SOIL SCIENCE AND
HYDROGEOLOGY
MODULE CODE: MEG 1641

A PROJECT SUBMITTED FOR THE FULFILMENT OF
MEG 1641 FIRST PROJECT BY:
MUGARI DZIVHULUWANI
STUDENT NO.: 14003786



SEPTEMBER 2014
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS PAGES
1.INTROUCTION 1
2.SOIL:DEFINITION 1
3.SOIL PROFILE:DEFINITION 1
4.PROPERTIES OF SOIL 2
5.HORIZONS 2
6.O HORIZON 3
7.A HORIZON 4
8.E HORIZON 5
9.B HORIZON 6
10.C HORIZON 7
11.R HORIZON 8
12.CONCLUSION

8
13.REFERENCES 9







INTRODUCTION
My study area is located in South Africa, Limpopo Province under Thulamela Municipality at
Maniini Village. The place is located few meters away from the Thohoyandou Stadium near
Muledane village.
The Soil profile that I observed is not perfectly matured soil profile because the incorporation
of organic materials approximately not equal to the withdrawal of soluble materials contained
by plants. It does have all profiles but horizons like O-horizon is not so sufficiently visible
but it does appear. As far as soil horizons is concern they must differ in colors, such that the
deeper horizons go, the lighter they will be in color but at this location the topsoil has
organic mattes but it is not so dark in color. The instrument that I used to measure the soil
horizon was a 30 cm ruler and a ball point pen
Soil
Soil is the complex mixture of minerals, water, air, organic matter and countless organisms
that are the decaying of once- living things. Soil can also defined as the mixture of broken
rocks and minerals, living organisms and decaying organic matter called humus. It forms at
the surface of the land and it is the skin of the earth and it is also the upper layer of the earth
in which plants grow.
Soil profile is the vertical section exposing a set of horizons, from the ground surface to the
parent rock.
BODY
Mature soil is the soil that has passed through the major developmental phases and become
relatively stabilized especially to the point that incorporation of organic material is
approximately equal to the withdrawal of soluble material by plants.
Properties of soil
The character and make-up of soil plays an important role in the behaviour of soil and what
they can be used for. Two of the most important properties are their texture and structure. By,
texture we mean what soil are composed of and how this affects the way they feel and their
cultivation. The main components of soil texture are: sand, silt, clay particles and organic
matter .The texture of the soil which is fine hold more water than coarse-textured soil but
may not be ideal. Medium-textured soil is most suitable for plant growth.
Permeability is one of the physical properties of soil. It is the rate at which water moves
through the soil and water holding capacity; the ability of the soil microspores to hold more
water for plant use. Macro pores control a soils permeability and aeration whereas micro
pores are responsible for a soils water holding capacity. The porosity is in turn affected by
soil texture, soil structure, compaction and organic materials.

Properties of soil particles
Sand Silt Clay
Porosity Mostly large pores Small pores
predominate
Small pores
predominate
Permeability rapid Low to moderate slow
Water holding particle limited Medium Very large
Soil particle surface small Medium Very large


HORIZONS

O HORIZON


O-horizon is a soil layer with a high percentage of organic materials. The depth of this layer
at this location is approximately only one ball point pen which is about the quarter of a 30 cm
ruler. Typically there are three distinct organic layers: one of leaves, pine needle and twigs;
underlain by a partially decomposed layer and then a very dark layer of well decomposed
humus. O horizon is dominated by organic materials. This layer is saturated with water for a
long period or I say it was once saturated but is now artificially drained; the other O horizons
of other places have never been saturated. It is composed of partially decomposed litter (such
as leaves, needles, twigs, moss and lichens) that has been deposited on the surface; they may
be on top of either minerals or organic soils. Other O horizons consist of organic matters that
were deposited under saturated conditions and have decomposed to varying stages. The
mineral fraction of such material constituted only a small percentage of its volume and
generally less than half of its weight.



A HORIZON

It is the topmost mineral horizon, often referred to as the top soil. At this particular location
this soil horizon is approximately 30 cm ruler and half pen in depth. This layer generally
contains enough partially decomposed organic matter to give the soil colour darker than that
of the lower horizon and by erosion. This layer or horizon is known as the zone in which the
most biological activities occur. Soil organisms such as earthworms, potworms (enchytraids)
, fungi and many species of bacteria archaea are concentrated here, often in close association
with plant roots. Thus the A-horizon may be referred as the biomantle. However, since
biological activities extends far deeper into the soil, it cannot be used as the chief
distinguishing of an A-horizon






E-HORIZON

A middle layer where in E stands for eluvium, is most commonly used to label a horizon that
has been significantly leached of clay, iron, and aluminium oxides, which leaves a
concentration of resistant minerals, such as quartz, in the sand and silt sizes . This horizon is
below A-horizon and is about a 30 cm ruler or 3 pens in depth at this specific location. The E-
horizon often has a pale colour that is generally lighter in colour than either horizon below or
above it. E-horizons are commonly found in the soil developed under forests but are rare in
soil developed under grassland .In regions where this designation is not employed, leached
layers are classified firstly as an A or B according to other characteristics and then appended
with designation e. In soils that contains gravels due to animal bioturbation, a stone layer
commonly forms near or at the base of the E horizon.






B HORIZON

B-horizon forms below an O, A and E-horizon and they have undergone sufficient changes
during soil genesis, such that the properties of their original parent material are no longer
discernible. This horizon is approximately more than 50 cm in some areas but at manini it is
about 30 cm plus half of a ball point pen in depth which is about 40 45 cm. This horizon is
commonly referred to as the sub soil. In humid regions, B-horizons are the layer of maximum
accumulation of materials such as silicate clay, iron(fe) and aluminium(al) , oxides and
organic material. These materials typically accumulate through a process termed illuviation,
wherein the materials gradually wash in from the overlying horizons. Accordingly this layer
is also referred to as the illuviated horizon or the zone of accumulation. In addition, it is
defined as having a distinctly different structure or consistency than the horizon(s) above and
the horizon(s) below. Sometimes the B-horizon can have stronger colours than A-horizon. In
arid and semi-arid regions, calcium carbonate or calcium sulphate may accumulate in the B
horizon.



C HORIZON

The C horizon (parent material) is below the B horizon. It is about a free ruler (30 cm) and a
full ball point pen deeper from B horizon to R horizon. This layer is little affected by soil
forming processes and they thus have a lack of pedological development. In other words, the
C horizon is the unconsolidated material underlying the solum (A and B). It may or may not
be the same as the parent material from which the weathers and rocks break up into smaller
particles. The C zone is below the zone of greatest biological activities and it has not been
sufficiently altered by soil genesis to qualify as the B horizon. In dry regions carbonates and
gypsum may not be concentrated in the C horizon. While loose enough to be dug with shovel,
C horizon material often retains some of the structural features of the parent rock or geologic
deposits from which it formed. The A and B layers usually originated from the C horizon.
The upper layers of the C horizon may in time become the part of the solum as weathering
and erosion continue. The C horizon may contain lumps or more likely large shelves of
unweathered rock rather than being sorely of small fragments as in the solum.




R HORIZON

IS the layer of partially weathered bedrock at the base of the soil profile unlike above layers,
R horizon are composed largely of consolidated masses of hard rock that cannot be
excavated by hand. This layer is equal to the 30 cm ruler and half in depth at this place. Only
big rocks are visible as the ones shown above. Soil formed in situ will exhibit strong
similarities to this bed rock layer.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion the location is not so worthy of mature soil and it has less soil fertility but in
turn the soil that are found there can be able to support the plant life. The top soil of the
location is not clay and composed of little slit and mostly of sand. This is a show that the soil
type of the location has high volume of porosity and can be able to allow more water to
penetrate through other horizons. Actually the location has all soil horizon as stated on the
pictures above.




REFERENCES

BYERS, S. (2011). INTRODUCTION TO FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY.UPPER SADDLE
RIGDE: NEW JERSEY: EDUCATION INC
GILLESPE, P AND ANDROID, J.(2001).SOIL CLASSIFICATION AND LAND
SURVEYING. CSIR PUBLISHING: AUSTRALIA
IVERSON, C. (2007). INTRODUCTION TO PEDROLOGY, soil horizons and
classifications. OXFORDSHINE: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
WILKINSON, M.T AND G.S, HUMPHERYS . (2005). EXPLORING PEDOGENESIS VIA
NUCLIDE BASED SOIL PRODUCTION RATES. AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF
RESEARCH: V. 43: PP.767- 779