Soil Formation

Soil Formation

1. 1 Rock mechanically weathered

   • Forms small soil grains

2. 2 Chemical Weathering

   • Releases important nutrients from the rock

3. 3 Seeds blown onto soil and enrich it upon death

   • Lichens and Mosses can grow on young soils

4. 4 Micro-organisms decompose plant remains

   • This forms humus and further enriches the soil
     • Humus helps the soil grains to bind together

5. 5 Repeat until maxiumum fertility is reached