What is the Difference Between Soil Texture and Soil Structure

The key difference between soil texture and soil structure is that soil texture describes the feel or shape of the soil, whereas soil structure describes the cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.

Soil texture and soil structure are important parameters describing soil properties since improving the structure and texture of soils can cause better growth of plants.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Soil Texture  
3. What is Soil Structure
4. Soil Texture vs Soil Structure in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Soil Texture vs Soil Structure

What is Soil Texture?

Soil texture is the proportion of sand, silt, and clay-sized particles that makes the mineral fraction of soil. We can determine this parameter using qualitative methods, including feel, and quantitative methods, including hydrometer methods, which are designed based on Stokes’ law. There are agricultural applications for determining soil texture, including the determination of crop suitability and predicting the response of the soil towards drought and calcium requirements. Typically, the soil texture is determined based on particles that have a diameter of less than 2 mm. This particle size can be found in sand, silt, and clay.

There are different classifications for the determination of soil texture. For example, the USA-based method defines 12 types of soil textures: sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, loam, silt, sandy clay loam, clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy clay, silty clay, and clay.

We can use a soil texture triangle plot for the determination of soil texture. In this triangle, three sides represent percent sand, percent clay, and percent silt. To determine the soil texture using this triangle, we should know the three sides of the triangle; for example, if we know the percentages of sand, silt, and clay in a given sample, we can use the above plot to determine the soil texture. Moreover, the chemical and physical properties of soil are also related to the soil texture. For instance, the particle size and distribution directly affect the capacity of the soil to hold water (water retention). Sandy soils have large pore spaces that allow the leaching of water.

What is Soil Structure?

Soil structure is the way individual particles of sand, silt, and clay are assembled. In other words, it defines the arrangement of the solid particles in the soil and pore spaces. The soil structure determines how the individual soil granules clump, bind together, and aggregate. Moreover, the soil structure has an influence on the water and air movement in the soil, biological activity, root growth, and seedling emergence.

Different soil structure types include platy soil, prismatic, columnar, blocky, granular, wedge, and lenticular.

1. Platy soil structure – the units are flat and plate-like.
2. Prismatic soil structure – the units are bound by flat to rounded vertical faces.
3. Columnar soil structure – the units are similar to prisms and are bound by flat or slightly rounded vertical faces.
4. Blocky soil structure – the units are block-like or polyhedral.
5. Granular soil structure – the units are approximately spherical or polyhedral.
6. Wedge soil structure – the units are elliptical with interlocking lenses.

It is important to improve the soil structure. The benefits include better growth of plants, improvement of root penetration, great water infiltration, retention, and availability due to improved porosity, etc.

What is the Difference Between Soil Texture and Soil Structure?

Soil texture and soil structure are important in agriculture for the proper growth of crops. The key difference between soil texture and soil structure is that soil texture describes the feel or shape of the soil, whereas soil structure describes the cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.

The following table summarizes the difference between soil texture and soil structure.

Summary – Soil Texture vs Soil Structure

Soil is an important component of earth that keeps life on earth. Soil texture and soil structure are two important properties of soil. The key difference between soil texture and soil structure is that soil texture describes the feel or shape of the soil, whereas soil structure describes the cohesive whole built up of distinct parts.

Reference:

1. “Soil Texture.” Queensland Government.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Soil Texture Triangle” By USDA Soil Survey Division Staff – Manually vectorized from File:SoilTextureTriangle.jpg (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Structure (24)” By Soil Science (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr