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Distinguish between soil profile and soil catena. Explain how the following factors influence soil formation The parent rock Relief

      

Distinguish between soil profile and soil catena.
Explain how the following factors influence soil formation
The parent rock
Relief

  

Answers


Dana
Soil profile refers to the vertical arrangement of soil in layers from the surface to the bedrock while solid catena refers to the regular horizontal arrangement of soil particles on the hill slope from top to the bottom
The parent rock
It determines the time taken and the type of soil formed.
It influences the rate of weathering. Hard rocks weathers slowly while soft rocks weather faster to form soils.
It determines the soil texture. Coarse grained rocks produce coarse gained soils while fine grained rocks produce fine grained soils.
It determines the soil mineral composition. Minerals in the parent rock determines the mineral composition of the soil.
Rock texture determines soil structure which in turn determine the soil water holding capacity and permeability.

Relief

The general appearance and nature of landscape determine the rate of weathering.
It influences the drainage, surface run off, erosion and aspect.
Steep slopes have weathering but more erosion thus forming thin immature soils.
Gentle slopes have moderate weathering forming deep-well developed and mature soils with a clear profile.
Valley bottom have deep soil due to deposition of weathered materials.
Flat areas may be waterlogged which slows down soil formation to form peat soils due to poor drainage.
Aspects – slopes facing the sun has more weathering to form soils due to more heating.
The slope gradient influence the arrangement of soils popularly known as soil profile.

Dana05 answered the question on August 16, 2019 at 13:20


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