SOIL TYPES

Alluvial - loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed or on a floodplain.

Black soil - soil containing a high percentage of humus and high percentages of phosphorus and ammonia compounds.

Calcareous - an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate,” in other words, containing lime or being chalky.

Chalk - a soft white limestone (calcium carbonate) formed from the skeletal remains of sea creatures.

Clay - a firm, fine-grained earth, plastic when wet, composed chiefly of hydrous aluminum silicate minerals.

Glacial till - unsorted glacial sediment.

Gravel - a loose aggregation of small water-worn or pounded stones.

Loam - a soil with roughly equal proportions of sand, silt, and clay.

Loess - a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust.

Muck - mud, dirt, or a sticky natural substance such as animal waste.

Mud - soft, sticky matter resulting from the mixing of earth and water.

Organic material - matter composed of organic compounds that have come from the feces and remains of organisms such as plants and animals.

Peat - an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter.

Sand - a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles.

Silt - fine sand, clay, or other material carried by running water and deposited as a sediment, especially in a channel or harbor.