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1 : firm land : earth. 2a : the upper layer of earth that may be dug or plowed and in which plants grow. b : the superficial unconsolidated and usually weathered part of the mantle of a planet and especially of the earth. 3 : country, land our native soil. 

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1 : firm land : earth. 2a : the upper layer of earth that may be dug or plowed and in which plants grow. b : the superficial unconsolidated and usually weathered part of the mantle of a planet and especially of the earth. 3 : country, land our native soil. 

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- Merriam Webster

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Soils are complex mixtures of minerals, water, air, organic matter, and countless organisms that are the decaying remains of once-living things. It forms at the surface of land – it is the “skin of the earth.” Soil is capable of supporting plant life and is vital to life on earth.

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Soils are complex mixtures of minerals, water, air, organic matter, and countless organisms that are the decaying remains of once-living things. It forms at the surface of land – it is the “skin of the earth.” Soil is capable of supporting plant life and is vital to life on earth.

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It is the most extensively used construction material. It consists of particles of rock and hard minerals, such as silicon dioxide. They are the largest type of soil particles, where each particle is visible to naked eye. The large, relatively stable sand-particle size increases soil aeration, improves drainage in tight soils and creates plant-growth supporting qualities, or tilt.

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Soils serve as a medium for growth of all kinds of plants.

Soils modify the atmosphere by emitting and absorbing gases (carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and the like) and dust.

Soils provide habitat for animals that live in the soil (such as groundhogs and mice) to organisms (such as bacteria and fungi), that account for most of the living things on Earth.

Soils absorb, hold, release, alter, and purify most of the water in terrestrial systems.

Soil recycles nutrients, including carbon, so that living things can use them over and over again.

Soils serve as engineering media for construction of foundations, roadbeds, dams and buildings, and preserve or destroy artifacts of human endeavors.

Soils act as a living filter to clean water before it moves into an aquifer.

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Silt is a sediment material with an intermediate size between sand and clay. Carried by water during floods it forms a fertile deposit on the valley floor. The particle size of silt ranges from 0.002 and 0.06 mm.

Silt is a non-plastic or low plasticity material due to its fineness. Due to its fineness, when wet it becomes a smooth mud that you can form easily into balls or other shapes in your hand and when silt soil is very wet, it blends seamlessly with water to form fine, runny puddles of mud.

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Clay particles are the finest of all the soil particles, measuring fewer than 0.002 mm in size. It consists of microscopic and submicroscopic particles derived from the chemical decomposition of rocks. Clay is a fine grained cohesive soil. They stick together readily and form a sticky or gluey texture when they are wet or dry.

Clay is made of over 25 percent clay, and because of the spaces found between clay particles, clay soils hold a high amount of water. Clay expands when in contact with water and shrinks when getting dry. Compared to sand particles, which are generally round, clay particles are thin, flat and covered with tiny plates. Organic clay is highly compressible and its strength is very high when dry, which is why it is used in construction as mud mortar.

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Loam is a mixture of clay, sand and silt and benefits from the qualities of these 3 different textures, favoring water retention, air circulation, drainage and fertility. These soils are fertile, easy to work with and provide good drainage. Depending on their predominant composition they can be either sandy or clay loam.

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O – (humus or organic) Mostly organic matter such as decomposing leaves. The O horizon is thin in some soils, thick in others, and not present at all in others.

A - (topsoil) Mostly minerals from parent material with organic matter incorporated. A good material for plants and other organisms to live.

E – (eluviated) Leached of clay, minerals, and organic matter, leaving concentration of sand and silt particles of quartz or other resistant materials missing in some soils but often found in older soils and forest soils.

B – (subsoil) Rich in minerals that leached (moved down) from the A or E horizons and accumulated here.

C – (parent material) The deposit at Earth’s surface from which the soil developed.

R – (bedrock) A mass of rock such as granite, basalt, quartzite, limestone or sandstone that forms the parent material for some soils – if the bedrock is close enough to the surface to weather. This is not soil and is located under the C horizon.

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Soil is our life support system. Soils provide anchorage for roots, hold water and nutrients. Soils are home to myriad micro-organisms that fix nitrogen and decompose organic matter, and armies of microscopic animals as well as earthworms and termites. We build on soil as well as with it and in it.

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Soil plays a vital role in the Earth’s ecosystem. Without soil human life would be very difficult. Soil provides plants with foothold for their roots and holds the necessary nutrients for plants to grow; it filters the rainwater and regulates the discharge of excess rainwater, preventing flooding; it is capable of storing large amounts of organic carbon; it buffers against pollutants, thus protecting groundwater quality; it provides Man with some essential construction and manufacturing materials, we build our houses with bricks made from clay, we drink coffee from a cup that is essentially backed soil (clay); it also presents a record of past environmental conditions.

- https://www.isric.org/discover/about-soils/why-are-soils-important