MORFOLOGI TANAH

benito@ugm.ac.id
The interaction of the five soil-
forming factors; time, climate,
parent material, topography,
and plant and animal life, result
in the development of a soil
profile.

A soil profile is a vertical section
of the soil beginning at the
surface and extending down
into the unconsolidated
underlying material to a depth
of 60 inches or more.

benito@ugm.ac.id
http://www.landfood.ubc.ca/soil200/classific
ation/soil_horizon.htm#development

Syarat profil tanah:
Baru
Tidak terkena sinar
matahari
Mewakili
(representatif)
Tidak Dekat jalan
(bahan
galian/timbunan)

A soil horizon is a layer of
soil, approximately parallel to
the soil surface, with distinct
characteristics produced by
soil-forming processes.

The physical and chemical
characteristics observed
within the soil profile are the
basis for differentiating one
soil from another.
benito@ugm.ac.id
O Horizon - The top, organic layer of soil, made
up mostly of leaf litter and humus (decomposed
organic matter).

A Horizon - The layer called topsoil; it is found
below the O horizon and above the E horizon. It
is made up of humus (decomposed organic
matter) mixed with mineral particles.

E Horizon - This eluviation (leaching) layer is
light in color; this layer is beneath the A Horizon
and above the B Horizon. It is made up mostly of
sand and silt, having lost most of its minerals and
clay as water drips through the soil (in the
process of eluviation).


benito@ugm.ac.id
B Horizon - This layer is beneath the E Horizon
and above the C Horizon. It contains clay and
mineral deposits (like iron, aluminum oxides, and
calcium carbonate) that it receives from layers
above it when mineralized water drips from the
soil above.

C Horizon - Also called regolith: the layer beneath
the B Horizon and above the R Horizon. It consists
of slightly broken-up bedrock. Plant roots do not
penetrate into this layer; very little organic material
is found in this layer.

R Horizon - The unweathered rock (bedrock)
layer that is beneath all the other layers.

benito@ugm.ac.id
The central concept of
Entisols is that of soils
that have little or no
evidence of
development of
pedogenic horizons.
Many Entisols have an
ochric epipedon and a
few have an anthropic
epipedon. Many are
sandy or very shallow.
The central concept of
Inceptisols is that of soils
of humid and subhumid
regions that have altered
horizons that have lost
bases or iron and
aluminum but retain some
weatherable minerals.
They do not have an
illuvial horizon enriched
with either silicate clay or
with an amorphous mixture
of aluminum and organic
carbon.
The Inceptisols may have
many kinds of diagnostic
horizons, but argillic, natric
kandic, spodic and oxic
horizons are excluded.
The central concept of
Alfisols is that of soils
that have an argillic, a
kandic, or a natric
horizon and a base
saturation of 35% or
greater. They typically
have an ochric
epipedon, but may
have an umbric
epipedon. They may
also have a petrocalcic
horizon, a fragipan or a
duripan.
The central concept of
Andisols is that of soils
dominated by short-range-
order minerals. They include
weakly weathered soils with
much volcanic glass as well
as more strongly weathered
soils. Hence the content of
volcanic glass is one of the
characteristics used in
defining andic soil
properties.

Materials with andic soil
properties comprise 60
percent or more of the
thickness between the
mineral soil surface or the
top of an organic layer with
andic soil properties and a
depth of 60 cm or a root
limiting layer if shallower.
The central concept of Aridisols is
that of soils that are too dry for
mesophytic plants to grow. They
have either:
(1) an aridic moisture regime and an
ochric or anthropic epipedon and one
or more of the following with an
upper boundry within 100 cm of the
soil surface: a calcic, cambic, gypsic,
natric, petrocalcic petrogypsic, or a
salic horizon or a duripan or an
argillic horizon, or
(2) A salic horizon and saturation with
water within 100 cm of the soil
surface for one month or more in
normal years.
An aridic moisture regime is one that
in normal years has no water
available for plants for more than half
the cumulative time that the soil
temperature at 50 cm below the
surface is >5 C. and has no period
as long as 90 consecutive days when
there is water available for plants
while the soil temperature at 50 cm is
continuously >8 C.
The central concept of
Gelisols is that of soils
that have permafrost
within 100 cm of the soil
surface and/or have gelic
materials within 100 cm of
the soil surface and have
permafrost within 200 cm.

Gelic materials are
mineral or organic soil
materials that have
evidence of cryoturbation
(frost churning) and/or ice
segeration in the active
layer (seasonal thaw
layer) and/or the upper
part of the permafrost.
The central concept of
Histosols is that of soils
that are dominantly
organic. They are mostly
soils that are commonly
called bogs, moors, or
peats and mucks.
A soil is classified as
Histosols if it does not
have permafrost and is
dominated by organic
soil materials.
The central concept of
Mollisols is that of soils
that have a dark colored
surface horizon and are
base rich. Nearly all have
a mollic epipedon. Many
also have an argillic or
natric horizon or a calcic
horizon. A few have an
albic horizon. Some also
have a duripan or a
petrocalic horizon.
The central concept of
Oxisols is that of soils of the
tropical and subtropical
regions. They have gentle
slopes on surfaces of great
age. They are mixtures of
quartz, kaolin, free oxides,
and organic matter. For the
most part they are nearly
featureless soils without
clearly marked horizons.
Differences in properties
with depth are so gradual
that horizon boundaries are
generally arbitrary
The central concept of
Spodosols is that of soils in
which amorphous mixtures of
organic matter and aluminum,
with or without iron, have
accumulated. In undisturbed
soils there is normally an
overlying eluvial horizon,
generally gray to light gray in
color, that has the color of
more or less uncoated quartz.
Most Spodosols have little
silicate clay. The particle-size
class is mostly sandy, sandy-
skeletal, coarse-loamy, loamy,
loamy- skeletal, or coarse-silty
Podzolization : leaching of soluable minerals from A to B horizon
typical of cool, humid, and acidic environments

The central concept of
Ultisols is that of soils that
have a horizon that
contains an appreciable
amount of translocated
silicate clay (an argillic or
kandic horizon) and few
bases (base saturation
less than 35 percent).
Base saturation in most
Ultisols decreases with
depth.
The central concept of
Vertisols is that of soils
that have a high content
of expending clay and
that have at some time
of the year deep wide
cracks. They shrink
when drying and swell
when they become
wetter.










http://www.soils.wisc.edu/courses/SS325/mor
phology.htm
Sizing Up Soil
Structure | Colby
Digs
Soilcolbydigssoil.c
om

Plant and Soil Sciences eLibrarypassel.unl.edu

Compacted soils are created by heavy
equipment operating over soil. The
large pore spaces are compressed and
the soils often form a platy structure
as shown in this photograph.
http://www.nativerevegetation.org/le
arn/manual/ch_5.aspx
Angular blocky
Crumb

Different
soil color

http://www.nativerevegetation.org/learn/manual/ch_5.aspx
Soil consistency
Roots
pH and effervescence
Special feature
Moisture status Consistence Abbreviation Description
wet Nonsticky wso
Almost no natural adhesion
of soil material to fingers
Slightly sticky wss
Soil material adheres to only
one finger
Sticky ws
Soil material adheres to both
fingers
Very sticky wvs
Soil material strongly adheres
to both fingers
Nonplastic wpo
No wire is formable by rolling
material between the hands
Slightly plastic wps
Only short (< 1cm) wires are
formed by rolling material
between the hands
Plastic wp
Long wires (>1cm) can be
formed and moderate
pressure is needed to deform
a block of the molded
material
Very plastic wvp
Much pressure is needed to
deform a block of the molded
material
Moist Loose ml Soil material is noncoherent
Very friable mvfr
Aggregates crush easily
between thumb and finger
Friable mfr
Gentle pressure is required to
crush aggregates
Firm mfi
Moderate pressure is required
to crush aggregates
Very firm mvfi
Strong pressure is required to
crush aggregates
Extremely firm mefi
Aggregates cannot be broken
by pressure
Dry Loose dl
Soft ds
Slightly hard dsh
Hard dh
Very hard dvh
Extremely hard deh
Cementation Weakly cemented cw
Strongly cemented cs
Indurated ci
Table 9.7.1. Classification of consistence (Buol et al., 1997).
Reference
Root quantity classes Per unit area
Very few < 0.2
Moderately few 0.2 to 1
Few < 1
Common 1 to < 5
Many >= 5
Size classes of roots Diameter in mm
Very fine < 1
Fine 1 - 2
Medium 2 - 5
Coarse 5 - 10
Very coarse > 10
Table 9.8.1. Classification of roots.

Small precipitates (e.g. salts, carbonates) dispersed
throughout the matrix of a horizon
Concentrations
Masses:
Noncemented bodies of accumulation of various
shapes that cannot be removed as discrete units (e.g.
crystalline salts)
Nodules:
Cemented bodies of various shapes that can be
removed as discrete units from soil
Concretions:
Cemented bodies similar to nodules, except for
the presence of visible, concentric layers of
material around a point, line, or plane
Crystals:
Macro-crystalls forms of relatively soluble salts
(e.g. gypsum, carbonates) that form in situ by
precipitation from soil solution
Biological concentrations:
Discrete bodies accumulated by a biological
process (e.g., fecal pellets, insect casts)