What Is Transported Soil And Residual Soil | Difference Between Transported And Residual Soil

As we already discussed transported and residual soil in this article, both transported and residual soil falls into “types of soils based on their origin” category.

What is transported soil?

As we know, the soil is formed from rocks’ physical and chemical weathering. After the soil formation by physical and chemical weathering of rocks, when this formed soil moves from its original place to other places through any external agent such as wind, water, ice, etc then these types of soil are defined as transported soil. Transported soil examples are colluvial, alluvial, etc.

Types Of Transported Soil

Transported soil is divided into four parts.

1. Soil Transported By Gravity
2. Soil Transported By Water.
3. Soil Transported By Glaciers.
4. Soil Transported By Wind.

1-Soil Transported By Gravity

You may hear many times that some portion of the mountain falls on the roads this is due to the gravitational force of the earth and after the fall of rocks, it breaks into pieces, and becomes soil, so it is known as the soil transported by gravity.

The soil transported by the action of gravity is limited for short distances. The soil transported by gravity is known as Colluvial soil or Talus soil.

The soil transported by gravity mostly contains coarse-grained particles and pieces of rocks and the soil has different sizes and shapes.

The transportation of the gravitational soil is very less because there are no external agents which are going to transport the soil from one place to another place.

More Read- Scope of Soil Engineering

2-Soil Transported By Water

The soil which is transported by water from one place to another place is known as the “soil transported by water”. Soil transported by water is done through the river flow, lack, valleys, heavy rain, etc.

Water is one of the main sources of soil transportation and it can also carriers soil in the form of a suspension and move it from one place to another place.

When the velocity of the running water is very high then it can break hard rock and soil and carries it from one place to another place.

In the water-transported soil, all sizes of soil particles move from one place to another place.

The soil that moves from one place to another place by the mean of rive is known as Alluvial Soil and the soil transported by lakes is called Lacustrine Soil.

3-Soil Transported By Glaciers.

In the “soil transported by glaciers”, when huge glaciers move from one place to another place they carry soil with them and transport the soil a long way.

The soil transported by the glaciers has an excellent shear strength capacity and this soil can be compacted to a required density.

The glaciers have a large amount of ice and when this ice melts it also carries soil with them transporting the soil to the new place.

When the soil is deposited due to the melting of the glaciers then it is known as till and the soil deposit formed by glaciers is known as Glaciofluvial.

4- Soil Transported By Wind

The soil which is transported by the wind is known as “soil transported by the wind”. The amount of soil that is going to move with the help of the wind depends on the intensity of the wind. If the wind seed is very high then it can carry large soil particles with then.

In general, fine-grained soil particles are transported by the action of the wind.

The soil deposition by the wind is called the Aeolian deposit. The Aeolian soil is classified into two parts first is Dune and the second is Loes.

More Read- Soil Exploration | Purpose And Stages Of Site Exploration

What Is Residual Soil?

Residual soil is those soil that does not move from its birthplace to other places by any external agent such as wind, water, ice, glaciers, gravity, etc.

The residual soil does not move from its parent rock whereas the transported soil moves from its parent rock.

In the residual soil, the parent material does not mix with any other material while in transported soil they mix with other parent materials.

The characteristics of the residual soil are the same as the parent rock while the characteristics of the transported soil are different from its parent rock because it mixes with other parent material so it also possesses their characteristics too.

How Is Transported Soil Different From Residual Soil?

Here are the main 5 differences between transported and residual soil.

Transported Soil	Residual Soil
Transported soil basically moves from its birthplace to other places by an external agent such as wind, air, water, etc.	Residual soil stays its birthplace after its formation from rock by physical and chemical weathering.
Transported soil moves away from its parent rock.	The Residual Soil does not move from its parent rock.
In the transported soil the soil mineral composition varies.	The Residual Soil does not move from it parent rock.
In soil transportation weak soil, grains are omitted.	While residual soil contains different grain particles.
In the transported soil different parent materials are mixed with the transported soil.	While in the residual soil parent materials do not mix with any other parent material.

More Read- Disturbed And Undisturbed Soil Sample

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)