Question: How is soil formed?

Áine Uí Ghiollagáin answered on 28 May 2023:

hmm I’m not the best scientist to answer this question, but I think good soil depends on what plant life grew on it and what rocks are broken up in it. It takes a long time to form but can be washed or blown away easily if the land isn’t managed well. Have you heard about the Dustbowl in the 1930s in the States? Farmers converted the grassland they found in the Midwest into very productive farms at first, but didn’t realise they were stripping the plants that kept the soil in place. A series of very bad storms blew away feet of soil in some places and made life extremely hard for farming communities.