Soil Types

Mixtures Of Soil Elements

Soils get their names by what soil elements are found together and in what ratios.

A soil that is 55% Clay & 45% Silt would be a Silty Clay. If the percentages were reversed, the soil would be a Clayey Silt.

Soil testing laboratories have a range of tests that they can perform to determine the properties of soils and thus determine the soil type.

Such tests include: Particle Size Distribution, Liquid Limit, Plastic Limit and Plasticity Index.

Soil Particle Size Relitivity

This diagram demonstrates the difference in size between the various soil elements.

In the lab, the finest particles are usually removed first by washing, before the remainder of the sample is dried prior to being put through a nest of sieves which are used to sperate the various particle sizes.

Some sieve sizes include: 0.6mm,

0.425mm, 0.3mm, 0.15mm and 0.075mm.