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Soil Colour

Soil color is an observable property that indirectly affects plant growth through soil temperature and provides clues about soil conditions and properties. Factors influencing soil color include organic matter content, soil drainage, mineralogy, and climate, with specific colors indicating different conditions. The Munsell Color Charts are used to determine soil color based on hue, value, and chroma.

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119 views9 pages

Soil Colour

Soil color is an observable property that indirectly affects plant growth through soil temperature and provides clues about soil conditions and properties. Factors influencing soil color include organic matter content, soil drainage, mineralogy, and climate, with specific colors indicating different conditions. The Munsell Color Charts are used to determine soil color based on hue, value, and chroma.

Uploaded by

pradeep c
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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SOIL COLOUR

Soil Colour (Color)


Is one of the observable property
Soil colour has no direct effect on plant
growth but has an indirect effect through soil
temperature
Soil color has little effect on the behavior and
use of soil
However it provide clue to the condition and
properties of soil
For example-dark colour surface soil
absorb more solar radiation than light colour
soils and so get warm up faster.
Soil colour is often used in soil description and
Kinds of Soil colour
Acquired or pedo-
Litho-chromic chromic
If color is inherited Soil colour
from parent material developed during
e.g. Red soil developed formation as a
on red sand stone
result of pedogenic
processes
Factors Influencing Soil Colour
Organic matter content
Soil drainage or soil moisture
Soil mineralogy
Climate
1. Organic matter content
• The humus tend to be dark brown to black in colour as a
result soils high in OM are darker in colour
2. Soil drainage or Soil Moisture Content
 Moist soils are generally darker in colour than dry
soils
 Soil drainage or moisture level determines the
oxidation, hydration state of Fe, which in turn impart
different colour as under
Fe2O3 Well drained soils Red colour
(Tropics)
Fe2O3. xH2O Moist condition Yellow or brown colour
FeO Waterlogged condition Bluish or greenish colour
Imperfectly drained soil Rust mottles
3. Soil Mineralogy
 Yellow colour is mostly due to goethite
 Red colour is due to heamatite
 Minerals like manganese oxide and glauconite
impart blak and green colour, respectively
 Calcite impart white colour to the soil
 Ferrous oxide change the soil colour to gray
or bluish, a condition of gley fromation
4. Climate
• Colour in a general way is an expression of
climate under which soil was developed
For example
Warm-humid Tropical climate
Intense Chemical Weathering Release of Fe

Faster rate of OM decomposition Low OM content

Red colour
Soil colour become progressively lighter in dry areas and redder in
warmer climate
Munsell Color Charts

Hue: the dominant spectral color (red, yellow, blue,


green).

Value: refers to the intensity of the color


(lightness/darkness)Relative blackness or whiteness;
the amount of reflected light

Chroma: Purity/strenght of color (increases as color


is more pure and grayness decreases).

10YR 7/1: Hue = 10YR, Value = 7, Chroma = 1


Determination of Soil
Colour
Munsell Soil colour chart

Based on, Hue, Value and

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