SOIL PROFILE: FORMATION

AND DEVELOPMENT
• Soil profile is the vertical
cross-section of the soil from
the surface through all its
horizons.
• A horizon is a layer of soil
differing in properties and
characteristics from adjacent
layers below or above it. Each
soil is characterized by a given
sequence of horizons in its
profile.
Addition & transformation of OM

Transformation of minerals. Transfer

of Fe, humus, soluble ions.

Accumulation of humus, Fe, soluble

ions

Removal of soluble ions

 In studying and describing the soil profile and its horizons, the
horizons are grouped under five master horizons and sub-layers
are identified under each master horizon.

Letters of the alphabet are used to designate the names of the

horizons.

SOIL PROFILE SYMBOLS

O Horizon dominated by organic matter

A Organic-rich, mineral horizon at or adjacent to the surface
E Mineral horizon of maximum eluviation
B Mineral horizon of maximum illuviation and formed beneath an O,
A, or E horizon
C Weathered parent material
R Underlying consolidated bedrock
 ACQUIRED vs. INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS
•Horizons may be developed in place from the weathering of parent materials or may be enhanced by the
deposition of materials from other places through erosion, leaching and other processes.

•Thus, a soil profile may have inherited characteristics from its parent material and/or acquired
characteristics as a result of deposition from other soils.
Example of inherited – presence of quart mineral
Example of acquired – organic matter, red and yellow iron oxides

Three kinds of symbols are used in combination to designate soil horizons or layers:

A.Capital letters – used to designate master horizons;

B.Lower case letters – are used as suffixes to indicate specific characteristics;
C.Arabic numerals – are used both as suffixes to indicate vertical subdivisions within a horizon or
prefixes to indicate discontinuities.
 MASTER HORIZONS
O horizons – Organic horizons that form above the
mineral soil or layers dominated by organic material.
Oi – Organic horizon where the original forms of plant
and animal residues are recognizable or only slightly
decomposed.
Oe – Organic horizon with residues intermediately
decomposed.
Oa – Organic horizons with residues highly decomposed
or unrecognizable.
Oi

Oe
Ap A
EB
E
Bt
E/B
BC
Bt

C
BC

C
A
Solum

C
Parent Material
 MASTER HORIZONS
A horizons - Mineral horizons that formed at the surface
or below an O horizon that exhibit obliteration of all or
much of the original rock structure and (i) are
characterized by an accumulation of humified organic
matter intimately mixed with the mineral fraction and
not dominated by properties characteristic of E or B
horizons; or (ii) have properties resulting from
cultivation, pasturing, or similar kinds of disturbance.
 MASTER HORIZONS

E horizons - Mineral horizons in which the main feature

is loss of silicate clay, iron, aluminum, or some
combination of these, leaving a concentration of sand
and silt particles of quartz or other resistant materials.
 MASTER HORIZONS
B horizons - Horizons that formed below an A, E, or O horizon and are
dominated by obliteration of all or much of the original rock structure
and show one or more of the following:

1. illuvial concentration of silicate clay, iron, aluminum, humus,

carbonates, gypsum, or silica, alone or in combination;
2. evidence of removal of carbonates;
3. residual concentration of sesquioxides;
4. coatings of sesquioxides that make the horizon conspicuously lower
in value, higher in chroma, or redder in hue than overlying and
underlying horizons without apparent illuviation of iron;
5. alteration that forms silicate clay or liberates oxides or both and that
forms granular, blocky, or prismatic structure if volume changes
accompany changes in moisture content;
6. brittleness.
 MASTER HORIZONS
C horizon - Horizons or layers, excluding hard bedrock,
that are little affected by pedogenic processes and lack
properties of O, A, E, or B horizons. The material of C
horizons may be either like or unlike that from which
the solum presumably formed. The C horizon may have
been modified even if there is no evidence of
pedogenesis.

R layer - Hard bedrock including granite, basalt,

quartzite and indurated limestone or sandstone that is
sufficiently coherent to make hand digging impractical.
 TRANSITIONAL HORIZONS
Two kinds of transitional horizons are recognized.
A. The horizon is dominated by properties of one master
horizon but has subordinate properties of another.
Two capital latter symbols are used, such as AB, EB,
BE, or BC. The master horizon symbol that is given
first designates the kind of master horizon whose
properties dominate the transitional horizon.
B. Distinct parts of the horizon have recognizable
properties of the two kinds of master horizons
indicated by the capital letters. The two capital letters
are separated by a virgule (/), as E/B, B/E, or B/C.
The first symbol is that of the horizon that makes up
the greater volume.
AB - A horizon with characteristics of both an overlying A
horizon and an underlying B horizon, but which is
more like the A than the B.
EB - A horizon with characteristics of both an overlying E
horizon and an underlying B horizon, but which is
more like the E than the B.
BE - A horizon with characteristics of both an overlying E
horizon and an underlying B horizon, but which is
more like the B than the E.
BC - A horizon with characteristics of both an overlying B
horizon and an underlying C horizon, but which is
more like the B than the C.
CB - A horizon with characteristics of both an overlying B
horizon and an underlying C horizon, but which is
more like the C than the B.
E/B - A horizon comprised of individual parts of E and B
horizon components in which the E component is
dominant and surrounds the B materials.
B/E - A horizon comprised of individual parts of E and B
horizon in which the E component surrounds the B
component but the latter is dominant.
B/C - A horizon comprised of individual parts of B and C
horizon in which the B horizon component is
ominant and surrounds the C component.
 Subordinate Distinctions within
Master Horizons
a - Highly decomposed organic material
b - Identifiable buried genetic horizons
c - Concretions or nodules with iron, aluminum, manganese or titanium
d - Physical root restriction, either natural or manmade such as dense basal
till, low pans, and mechanically compacted zones.
e - Organic material of intermediate decomposition
f - Frozen soil in which the horizon or layer contains permanent ice.
g - Strong gleying or mottling
h - Illuvial accumulation of organic matter
i - Slightly decomposed organic material
k - Accumulation of pedogenic carbonates, commonly calcium carbonate.
m - Continuous or nearly continuous cementation or induration of the soil matrix by carbonates (km), silica
(qm), iron (sm), gypsum (ym), carbonates and silica (kqm), or salts more soluble than gypsum (zm).
n - Accumulation of sodium sufficient to yield a morphological appearance of a natric horizon.
 o - Residual accumulation of sesquioxides.
p - Plowing or other disturbance of the surface layer by cultivation, asturing or similar uses.
q - Accumulation of silica.
r - Weathered or soft bedrock including saprolite; partly consolidated soft sandstone, siltstone or
shale;
s - Illuvial accumulation of sesquioxides and organic matter
ss - Presence of slickensides
t - Accumulation of silicate clay
v - Plinthite which is composed of iron-rich, humus-poor, reddish material
w - Development of color or structure in a horizon but with little or no apparent illuvial
accumulation of materials.
x - Fragic or fragipan characteristics that result in genetically developed firmness, brittleness, or
high bulk density.
y - Accumulation of gypsum.
z - Accumulation of salts more soluble than gypsum.
Soil forming process
Addition of materials to the developing soil profile from
outside sources such as:
• OM
• Dust from the atmosphere
• Soluble salts from groundwater
Littering- accumulation on the mineral soil surface of
organic (plant & faunal) litter associated humus to a depth
of less than 30cm (Oi and Oe)
• Oi horizon is an organic horizon of fibric materials
-recognizable plant and animal parts (leaves,twigs),
only slightly decomposed.
(i- organic matter, slightly decomposed)
• Oe horizon consists of hemic materials- finely
fragmented residues, intermediately decomposed
(e- organic matter- intermediate decomposition)
Losses of materials from the
soil profile
• Water due to
evaporation/transpiration
• Nutrient by leaching
• Surface material by
erosion
• Other form of removal
Translocation-movement of organic and inorganic
materials from one horizon up/down to another
• Material being moved mostly by water
These materials include:
• Clay
• OM
• Salts
• nutrients
Eluviation- movement of materials(usually clay and
humus ) out of a horizon as in albic horizon (e)
• Exit

Illuviation- deposition of materials (usually clay and

humus) into a horizon as in argillic (Bt) or spodic (Bs or
Bhs) horizon
t- accumulation of silicate clay
s-illuvial accumulation of OM and Fe/Al oxide
h- illuvial accumulation of OM
Podzolisation is the
chemical migration of
aluminum and iron and
organic matter into
lower horizon resulting
in the concentration of
Si (silication) in the
eluviated layer
Gleization involves the
accumulations of organic
matter in the upper
layers of the soil. In lower
horizons, mineral layers
are stained blue-gray
because of the chemical
reduction of Fe
• it is associated with poor
drainage
Calcification occurs when
evapotranspiration
exceeds precipitation
causing the upward
movement of dissolved
alkaline salts from
groundwater
• The net results is the
deposition of calcium
carbonate in the B
(Bk) or C (Ck) horizon
k- accumulation of
carbonates
Salinization is the process
that function in the similar
to calcification
• The net result is the
deposition of soluble
salts ( sulfates and
chloride of Ca,Mg,Na or
K) accumulate at or very
near the soil surface as
in salic (Bz) horizon
z- accumulation of soluble
salts
Transformation- some soil constituents are
modified/destroyed and other are synthesized
These include:
Mineral weathering
• Formation of clay
OM breakdown
Arrangement of the soil component into structural
aggregates

Mineralization- decomposition of OM (organic to inorganic

form)
Humification involves
transformation of raw
organic materials
into humus (Oe and
Oa)

e- OM, intermediate
decomposition
a- OM,highly
decomposed
Laterization also known as
desilication or ferrallitization
• Commonly found in
tropical and subtropical
soil
• High temperature and
heavy precipitation result
in rapid weathering of
rocks and mineral
• Movement of large amount
of water through the soil
cause eluviation and
leaching to occur
• Almost all the by product
of weathering (except Fe
and Al ) are translocated
out of the soil profile