Soil type

A category of soil distinguished by properties such as texture, composition, formation, or drainage. Soil types help describe how ground behaves and supports plants and other organisms.

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Soil texture: The relative proportions of sand, silt, and clay in a soil. Texture is a primary basis for distinguishing soil types.
Soil survey: The systematic description, mapping, and interpretation of soils across a landscape. Surveys identify where soil types occur and how they should be managed.
Soil formation: The development of soil through interactions among climate, organisms, relief, parent material, and time. These factors generate the properties used to distinguish soil types.
Chernozem: A dark, humus-rich soil group associated with grasslands and high natural fertility. It exemplifies a productive soil type formed under grassland vegetation.
Soil series: The lowest taxonomic category in the United States soil classification system, defined by a specific range of soil properties. A soil series is more narrowly defined than a broad soil type.
Sand: Loose mineral particles larger than silt and clay, forming the coarsest soil texture fraction. Soils with abundant sand drain quickly and retain little water.
Soil classification: The organization of soils into named groups using shared properties and formation criteria. Formal classification makes soil types comparable across regions.
Soil horizon: A roughly parallel layer in a soil profile with distinctive physical or chemical properties. Horizon sequences reveal how a soil type formed and changed.
Podzol: A strongly leached soil with an ash-gray horizon, common in cool, humid regions under acidic vegetation. Its pale subsurface layer makes leaching especially visible.
Soil texture class: A named class, such as loam or sandy clay, based on proportions of sand, silt, and clay. Texture classes describe particle proportions, while soil type can include broader properties.