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Soil Texture Quality Articles

Texture indicates the relative content of particles of various sizes, such as sand, silt and clay in the soil. Texture influences the ease with which soil can be worked, the amount of water and air it holds, and the rate at which water can enter and move through soil. ... Fine earth is a mixture of sand, silt and clay.Soil texture is a classification instrument used both in the field and laboratory to determine soil classes based on their physical texture. Soil texture can be determined using qualitative methods such as texture by feel, and quantitative methods such as the hydrometer method. Soil texture has agricultural applications such as determining crop suitability and to predict the response of the soil to environmental and management conditions such as drought or calcium (lime) requirements. Soil texture focuses on the particles that are less than two millimeters in diameter which include sand, silt, and clay. The USDA soil taxonomy and WRB soil classification systems use 12 textural classes whereas the UK-ADAS system uses . These classifications are based on the percentages of sand, silt, and clay in the soil.The first classification, the International system, was first proposed by Albert Atterberg in 1905 and was based on his studies in southern Sweden. Atterberg chose 20 μm for the upper limit of silt fraction because particles smaller than that size were not visible to the naked eye, the suspension could be coagulated by salts, capillary rise within 24 hours was most rapid in this fraction, and the pores between compacted particles were so small as to prevent the entry of root hairs. Commission One of the International Society of Soil Science (ISSS) recommended its use at the first International Congress of Soil Science in Washington in 1927. Australia adopted this system, and its equal logarithmic intervals are an attractive feature worth maintaining.

Last Updated on: Nov 27, 2024

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