Saturday, June 19, 2021
What is the relationship between rocks and soil?
The soil and rock are part of the earth's crust. Soil comes from the weathering of various kinds of rocks. Weathering occurs due to temperature, water, vegetation and chemicals.
There are various types of rocks. Each type of rock has its own properties and uses.
A. Some Facts About Soil
* Soil comes from the weathering of rocks
* Soil consists of 4 (four) layers, namely:
- Top Layer
- Undercoat
- Parent Material Layer, and
- Parent Layer
* The top layer of soil is called fertile humus soil
* To maintain soil fertility, fertilization is necessary.
* Worms can fertilize agricultural land
* There are 3 (three) types of weathering, namely:
- Mechanical Weathering (by temperature factor)
- Chemical weathering (by chemical factors), and
- Biological weathering (by plant factors)
* The top layer is darker and more friable than the bottom layer.
* Soil comes from the weathering of rocks eroded from rocky mountains.
* Weathering occurs because of the sun's heat/temperature, water, chemicals and plants.
* Weathered rock can be eroded by water and wind. Gravel, sand, and dust that occurs from *
* The erosion settles in place to become sedimentary rock.
* Moss is called a pioneer plant, because moss is a type of plant that can live on rocks.
* In the soil many live animals and plants that are very useful for soil fertility.
* Bare soil is easily eroded by water and wind.
* Deforestation in mountains can cause soil erosion and create a flood hazard.
* Because plants always take substances from the soil, the substances needed are getting less and less. To maintain the fertility of agricultural land, fertilization is necessary.
Read : The Air
B. Then, Some Facts About Rocks
a. Rock consists of 3 (three) types, namely:
- Frozen Rock
- Sedimentary Rock
- Metamorphic Rock
b. There are 5 (five) types of igneous rocks, namely:
1. Pumice
Its characteristics: Grayish in color, porous, bubbly, lightly floating in water. How it formed: Rapid cooling of bubbling gaseous lava that occurs on the Earth's surface
2. Breccia Stone
Its characteristics: Like glass and quartz which is a combination of fragments originating from volcanoes. How it forms: When a volcano occurs, the constituent materials are thrown high into the air and coalesce
3. Obsidian
Its characteristics: The color is black like glass, no crystals. How it formed: From rapidly cooling surface lava.
4. Granite
Characteristics: Consists of coarse crystals, white to gray, sometimes orange. How it formed: From the slow cooling of lava and molten rock in the ground
5. Basalt
Its characteristics: Consists of very small crystals, grayish green in color and with holes. How it formed: From the rapid cooling of the lava and the evaporation of the gases the vents form.
Read : The Sound
c. There are also 4 (four) types of Sedimentary Rocks, namely:
1. Conglomerate
Its characteristics: In the form of rounded pebbles, rocky and sandy that stick together. How it was formed: From loose materials compressed by sediment pressure and bound by natural cement.
2. Sandstone
Its characteristics: In the form of grains of yellow and red sand. How it was formed: From sand compressed by sediment pressure and bound by natural cement.
3. Shale Stone
Its characteristics: Smells like clay, rather soft, in the form of fine grains of green, black, yellow, red and gray. How it was formed: From mud bound by natural cement.
4. Limestone
Its characteristics: Slightly soft, white, red-gray, forms carbon dioxide gas when acid is dropped. How it was formed: From a dead organism, which uses calcium carbonate from the sea to form its body parts from the effects of water and wind.
d. There are 3 (three) types of metamorphic rocks, namely:
1. Marble
Characteristics: Mixture of different colors, can have color bands, medium to coarse crystals, when dropped with acid makes a hissing sound. How it forms: Occurs when limestone is exposed to pressure and high temperatures
2. Slate
Its characteristics: Gray, greenish, black, red in color, can be split into thin plates, harder than shale. How it occurs: Occurs when shale rock is exposed to high temperatures and pressure.
3. Quartz
Characteristics: Very hard, white, red-gray, the grains are not clear, a bit like glass. How it forms: Occurs when sandstone is exposed to high temperatures and pressure.
In certain rocks, mineral materials of various types are also found mixed with other rocks. If the rock material has a large amount of metal content to be separated, then the rock turns into a source of minerals (added ore), for example silver, gold, nickel, copper, and bouxite.
C. Lastly, Some Facts About Erosion (Soil Removal)
- Erosion occurs because the soil on high mountains is eroded by rain and wind.
- Erosion events occur slowly in the land around us over hundreds of thousands of years.
- Erosion events are caused by changes in the ecosystem (environment), either due to natural disturbances or due to human actions.
- Erosion can be prevented by planting trees on mountain slopes and forests where protective vegetation must remain in the mountains
- Erosion can also be prevented by holding swales, which are procedures for managing water on agricultural land by terracing on sloping land
Read : The Human Skeleton