Soil color is often the most visually apparent property of soil. While color itself does not influence the behavior or practical use of soils,[1] it does indicate important information about the soil organic matter content, mineralogy, moisture, and drainage.[2]
Soil can display a wide range of colors including brown, red, yellow, black, gray, white, and even blue or green, and vary dramatically across landscapes, between the various horizons of a soil profile, and even within a single clod of soil.[1]
The development and distribution of color in soil results from chemical and biological weathering, especially redox reactions. As the primary minerals in soil parent material weather, the elements combine into new and colorful compounds. Soil conditions produce uniform or gradual color changes, while reducing environments result in disrupted color flow with complex, mottled patterns and points of color concentration. Sometimes, a distinct change in color within a soil profile indicates a change in the soil parent material or mineral origin.[3]
^ abBrady, Nyle C.; Weil, Ray R. (2010). Elements of the nature and properties of soils (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J. ISBN 978-0-13-501433-2. OCLC 276340542.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Owens, P. R.; Rutledge, E. M. (2005). Encyclopedia of soils in the environment. Daniel Hillel, Jerry L. Hatfield (1st ed.). Oxford, UK: Elsevier/Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-348530-4. OCLC 52486575.
^Gardiner, Duane T.; Miller, Raymond W. (2008). Soils in our environment (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-219104-3. OCLC 85018836.
Soilcolor is often the most visually apparent property of soil. While color itself does not influence the behavior or practical use of soils, it does...
official color system for soil research in the 1930s. Several earlier color order systems had placed colors into a three-dimensional color solid of one...
including texture, color, structure, and consistence. Morphological evaluations of soil are typically performed in the field on a soil profile containing...
widely in nature, wood, soil, human hair color, eye color and skin pigmentation. Brown is the color of dark wood or rich soil. According to public opinion...
red color, which can vary from reddish brown to reddish yellow as a result of their high iron content. Red soil can be good or poor growing soil depending...
correlations with various soil and vegetation properties. Soilcolor is primarily influenced by soil mineralogy. Many soil colours are due to various...
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They exhibit a greenish-blue-grey soilcolor because of anoxic wetland conditions. On exposure, as the iron in the soil oxidizes colors are transformed...
plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from soil by restricting the former term specifically to displaced soil. Soil consists...
American color standards—used not only for specifying the color of paints and crayons, but also, e.g., electrical wire, beer, and soilcolor—because it...
[better source needed] Hydrangea flower color can change based on the pH in soil. As the graph depicts, soil with a pH of 5.5 or lower will produce blue...
soil chemistry, and physical properties. More specifically, each series consists of pedons having soil horizons that are similar in soilcolor, soil texture...
the permafrost. Because soil organic matter accumulates in the upper layer, most Gelisols are black or dark brown in soilcolor, followed by a shallow...
– Sediment-based soil consisting of carbonates. The most common colored limestone found in wine-producing area is buff-gray in color (with the exception...
for various soil properties. A full geotechnical engineering soil description will also include other properties of the soil including color, in-situ moisture...
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Greece as the color of the underworld. In Ancient Egypt, black had positive associations; being the color of fertility and the rich black soil flooded by...
seven soil deposits in India. They are alluvial soil, black soil, red soil, laterite soil, or arid soil, and forest and mountainous soil, marsh soil. These...
[tɕɪrnɐˈzʲɵm]; "black ground"), also called black soil, regur soil or black cotton soil, is a black-colored soil containing a high percentage of humus (4% to...
200 mm long. The dorsal pelage ranges from gray to brown, depending upon soilcolor, and the belly is whitish. Its head is bulky, and the face is black and...
Soil erosion is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by the dynamic...
available (e.g. temperature, elevation, soil composition, tissue type, and so on), in contrast to false color which is commonly used to display three...
soil at very low levels. When heated, the limonite and goethite is dehydrated and turns partially to hematite, which gives it a reddish-brown color....