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Soil Types, Drainage, and Rainfall Effects

The document discusses soil types classified by their grain size and composition. It provides information on different soil types, their drainage properties like the amount of water needed to drain, and how they react to rainfall. Soils like sand drain the fastest while clay drains the slowest. Loam is considered the best soil type for farming due to its balanced hydrologic characteristics with moderate drainage, infiltration and runoff.

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51 views3 pages

Soil Types, Drainage, and Rainfall Effects

The document discusses soil types classified by their grain size and composition. It provides information on different soil types, their drainage properties like the amount of water needed to drain, and how they react to rainfall. Soils like sand drain the fastest while clay drains the slowest. Loam is considered the best soil type for farming due to its balanced hydrologic characteristics with moderate drainage, infiltration and runoff.

Uploaded by

kaidanielj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Soils, Drainage and Runoff

Goal 1: Classify soils by grain size

1. If a soil survey tells you that you have a ‘sandy clay loam’ on your
property, what does your soil have in most abundance: sand, silt or clay?
Answer: The soil I have in most abundance is Clay.

2. If you send your soil out for a test and find out that it contains 75% silt
and 25% clay, what kind of soil do you have?
Answer: The kind of soil you have is Loam.

3. Pure loam is considered to be the best kind of soil for a farm or garden
and is often defined as a soil with roughly equal proportions of sand, silt,
and clay. Is that what the diagram shows?
Answer: Yes

Goal 2: Soil drainage


Percentages Amount of
Soil San Silt Clay water needed
Type d to drain
Heavy Clay -- -- 100 58 mL
%
Silty Clay -- 50% 50% 54 mL
Silty Clay Loam 50% 30% 20%% 32 mL
Silt -- 100 -- 39 mL
%
Silt Loam 30% 60% 10% 41 mL
Loam 50% 30% 20% 45 mL
Sandy Loam 60% 20% 20% 37 mL
Loamy Sand 70% 15% 15% 27 mL
Sand 100 -- -- 26 mL
%
Answer the following questions based on the table:
1. Which type of soil will drain the fastest (IE, the least amount of water
needed to be added in order for a drip to appear)? Why do you think that
soil drained so well?
Answer: Sand, this happen because sand is the type of soil with the largest
particle that are loosely spaced, which allow water to move through the soil
more freely and drain quickly.

2. If you were farming on that type of soil, what kinds of problems would you
have?
Answer: Sand soil are less fertile than other type of soil, and more prone on
drying out.

3. Which type of soil will drain the slowest (most amount of water needed to be
added)?
Answer: Clay soil.

4. If you were farming on that type of soil, what kinds of problems would you
have?
Answer: Clay soil is slow in water infiltration and air penetration, and also it is
difficult for the roots to emerge.

Goal 3: Find out how soils react to rainfall


1. Note all the members of Soil Group A in yellow on the previous page.
How will these soils react to a heavy rainfall? Is this good for farmers?
Answer: This three type of soil will be good for drainage and infiltration
which is easy for the soil to dry, but the water runoff is low this means sand
will absorb the water before it runoff.
2. Explain why the hydrologic characteristics of Group B help to make loam
the perfect farming soil.
Answer: It’s because, the soil they use are silt loam, loam, and silt. When
rain occur, the water infiltration, drainage, and runoff are all moderate
level, so this means it’s balance.
3. Why are the soils in Groups C and D dangerous after a heavy rainfall?
Answer: Because, both Group C and D are low in Infiltration level which is
going to cause greater surface run of and more soil erosion.

4. If you start a farm on a clay loam soil, will you need to irrigate your
crops? Why or why not?
Answer: Yes, you may need to irrigate more slowly than for sandy soil to
avoid runoff.

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