how was soil formed long before?

Answer 1

Just about the same now as it was formed before.

Soils, naturally, vary widely in their composition depending on their origin along with time and the natural forces involved in their formation process. Given the knowledge of the time required to develop a soil, it is of utmost importance that mankind use this natural resource in cooperation with the laws of nature to optimize soil conservation. This involves both chemical and physical conservation implemented by good management practices. Soil analysis is one aspect of soil management which aids in the conservation of this vital natural resource. Soil testing is an important management tool required for maintaining the proper chemical and microbiological balance within a soil necessary to optimize crop production without depleting the nutrient reserves. Continued survival and dependence of mankind on the soil, demands this balance be maintained through good management practices.

Answer 2

Long before.... ?

I'll assume you mean prehistoric times?

Assuming no life is present, soil starts out as eroded bits of rock caused by wind, rain, running water, waves, chemical process (i.e. acid rain) etc. Over time, all of these loosen bits from rock, and if is ice formed, that too chips particles away due to freezing and thawing. Then the more bits you have loose, the more particles which can be picked up by the wind and water, and they act as scouring agents which can accelerate the process. Variations in particle size determine the type of soil you have (sandy, clay, etc.)

Later, if you have plants, their roots can penetrate cracks and fracture bits away also. When rock particles are mixed with decayed organic matter, you get true "soil" which can more easily support plants and life.

Answer 3

Vasily V. Dokuchaev, a Russian geologist, geographer and early soil scientist, is credited with identifying soil as a resource whose distinctness and complexity deserved to be separated conceptually from geology and crop production and treated as a whole.

Previously, soil had been considered a product of physicochemical transformations of rocks, a dead substrate from which plants derive nutritious mineral elements. Soil and bedrock were in fact equated. Dokuchaev considers the soil as a natural body having its own genesis and its own history of development, a body with complex and multiform processes taking place within it. The soil is considered as different from bedrock. The latter becomes soil under the influence of a series of soil-formation factors (climate, vegetation, country, relief and age). According to him, soil should be called the "daily" or outward horizons of rocks regardless of the type; they are changed naturally by the common effect of water, air and various kinds of living and dead organisms. [13]

A 1914 encyclopedic definition: "the different forms of earth on the surface of the rocks, formed by the breaking down or weathering of rocks." [14] serves to illustrate the historic view of soil which persisted from the 19th century. Dokuchaev's late 19th century soil concept developed in the 20th century to one of soil as earthy material that has been altered by living processes.[6] A corollary concept is that soil without a living component is simply dirt.

Further refinement of the soil concept is occurring in view of an appreciation of energy transport and transformation within soil. The term is popularly applied to the material on the surface of the earth's moon and Mars, a usage acceptable within a portion of the scientific community. Accurate to this modern understanding of soil is Nikiforoff's 1959 definition of soil as the "excited skin of the subaerial part of the earth's crust". [15]

Answer 4

Before what?

Physical and chemical weathering of rock forms soil.

Cehmical weathering is both abiotically, and biotically controlled..