Question

Mention any two factors responsible for soil formation.

Answer 1

Soil: It is the uppermost layer of the Earth's land surface (lithosphere) that is a mixture of inorganic minerals and organic matter.

The two factors responsible for the soil formation are as follows:

1. The sun heats up rocks during the day so that they expand. At night, these rocks cool down and contract. Since all parts of the rock do not expand and contract at the same rate, this results in the formation of cracks, and ultimately the huge rocks break up into smaller pieces. This leads to the formation of smaller pieces of rocks.
2. The water helps in the formation of soil in two ways:
   • Water could get into the cracks in the rocks formed due to uneven heating by the Sun.
   • If this water later freezes, it would cause the cracks to widen.