The effect of climate on soil formation cannot be ignored, there is a strong correlation between climate and soil properties. Linguistically climate is the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period (1). The most important climatic components are Moisture and Temperature which effect due to its amount and seasonal distribution. The kind of climate determine the nature of weathering process and the rate of physical and chemical processes forming the different properties of soil.
1. Moisture Moisture content is the quantity of water contained in the soil which can be influenced directly by precipitation and Evaporation. Well, the definition of precipitation is any form of water - liquid or solid - falling …show more content…
Temperature
It is the degree of hotness or coldness of the region. Seasonal and daily changes in temperature affect moisture effectiveness, biological activity, rates of chemical reactions, and kinds of vegetation.Basically no chemical weathering occurs while the ground is frozen during the winter, the warmer the climate, the faster the rate of weathering. Also the faster the rate of evaporation, lowering the effects of precipitation.The amount, intensity, timing, and kind of precipitation influence soil formation …show more content…
There are three main types of weathering; physical, chemical and biological. Physical weathering is the influence of processes such as freezing and thawing, wetting and drying, and shrinking and swelling on rocks and other sediments, leading to their breakdown into finer and finer particles. Chemical weathering is the decomposition of rocks through a series of chemical processes such as acidification, dissolution and oxidation. Some minerals, while stable within solid rock, become less stable on being more exposed to the atmosphere and so begin to alter in the rocks near the surface, destabilizing the rocks. Biological weathering is the effect of living organisms on the breakdown of rock. This involves, for example, the effects of plant roots and soil organisms. Respiration of carbon dioxide by plant roots can lead to the formation of carbonic acid which can chemically attack rocks and sediments and help to turn them into soils. There are a whole range of weathering processes at work near the surface of the soil, acting together to break down rocks and minerals to form soil. These weathering processes have given rise to most of the world's soils (6).
Well, Climate controls the type and effectiveness of weathering of the parent material, the quantity of water seeping through the soil and the type of micro-organisms present therein.” In areas