Lab Report on Soil Properties

Lab Report on Soil Properties

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Title of Lab Goes Here
Introduction Lab Report on Soil Properties

Soil characteristics determine the suitability for agricultural practice. The characteristics tend to vary from one environment to another because of the different human activities, environmental conditions, and natural processes (Jensen, Schjønning, Watts, Christensen & Munkholm, 2017). Furthermore, the variations explain why different crops are grown in one region and not the other. Understanding the soil profile is critical for agricultural production and so worthy of study in this case. Besides, analyzing the soil horizons also creates the basis for the analysis of the soil profile and distribution (Murano, Takata & Isoi, 2015). There are mainly three types of soil, including the clay, loam, and sand, and they have different characteristics in terms of percolation, air spaces, PH, and mineral composition.

Objectives

The purpose of this study is to analyze the differences in the soil properties in terms of water permeability, air spaces, PH, and mineral composition. The analysis of the properties will help in determining the suitability of the soils for different agricultural activities. Furthermore, the proportion of the various soil types in a given sample will be analyzed in this study to determine the most commonly available soil type.

Hypotheses

H1: Considering that soil horizon is composed of various textures, the largest portion constitutes of the sand particles while silt and humus occupy the least portion.

H2:  The rate of percolation depends on the soil air spaces and particle size; therefore, water will take the longest time to infiltrate through the clay soil and shortest time to infiltrate through the sandy soil.

H3: The PH of the soil samples will be 7 because they are neutral

H4: Phosphorus is a major mineral component in soil, and therefore, the soil samples will be dominated by the mineral.

Results Lab Report on Soil Properties

Table 1: Particle Size and Soil Type

	Depth of Clay Layer (cm)	Depth of Silt Layer (cm)	Depth of Sand Layer (cm)	Total Depth (cm)	% Clay	% Silt	% Sand	Soil Texture
Soil Sample A	0.39	1.68	2.93	5	9%	32%	59%	Sandy Loam

 

Table 2: Soil porosity

	Time Taken for the First Drop to Emerge from Column (s)
Sand Sample	7 sec
Clay Sample	1 min 15 sec
Soil Sample A	12 sec

 

  Table 3. PH Values Lab Report on Soil Properties

 

	Soil Sample A	Soil Sample B (Location Description:                                                               )
pH	7.0 Neutral	7.0 Neutral

 

 

Table 4. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potash Comparison in Soil Samples

 

	Nitrogen	Phosphorus	Potash
Soil Sample A	Very Low	High	Very Low
Soil Sample B	Very Low	High	High

 

Discussion 

The H1 is accepted because sand occupies the largest portion (59%) in the soil sample.

Sandy soil has large airspaces that facilitate water movement. In addition, hypothesis 2 was that water takes the longest time to infiltrate through the clay soil and the shortest time in sand soil (Rasyid, Oda & Omae, 2018). The hypothesis is accepted because it took 1 min and 15 seconds for the water to pass through the clay soil and only 12 seconds in the sandy soil. H3 stated that the PH of the soil A sample is 7. The results are consistent with the prediction, and this hypothesis is accepted. Finally, phosphorus is a major nutrient in the soil, and thus hypothesis 4 is accepted.

What I have learned paragraph

The experiment provided the opportunity to learn more about soil composition and its role in agricultural production. For example, clay soil has high water retention and so suitable for crops that require a lot of water.

Sources of error paragraph:

The experiment was conducted accordingly except for possible errors that could have arisen from the inaccurate measurement of the soil length.

Future research paragraph:

Future studies should focus on analyzing the relationship between living organisms’ composition and soil characteristics.

References

Rasyid, B., Oda, M., & Omae, H. (2018, May). Soil water retention and plant growth response on the soil affected by continuous organic matter and plastic mulch application. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 157, No. 1, p. 012008). IOP Publishing.

Jensen, J. L., Schjønning, P., Watts, C. W., Christensen, B. T., & Munkholm, L. J. (2017). Soil texture analysis revisited: removal of organic matter matters more than ever. PloS one, 12(5).

Murano, H., Takata, Y., & Isoi, T. (2015). Origin of the soil texture classification system used in Japan. Soil science and plant nutrition, 61(4), 688-697.