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SoilTexture

6.SOILTEXTURE
6.0Definitionofsoiltexture

Texture indicates the relative content of particles of

varioussizes, such as sand, silt and clay in the soil.
Texture influences the ease with which soil can be
worked,theamountofwaterandairitholds,andthe
rateatwhichwatercanenterandmovethroughsoil.

Tofindthetextureofasoilsample,firstseparatethe
fineearth* , all particles less than 2 mm, from larger
particles such as gravel and stones. Fine earth is a
mixtureofsand,siltandclay.Youmustbesuretouse
onlyfineearthtoperformthefollowingfieldtests.

6.1Quickfieldteststodeterminesoiltexture
Forfishpondconstruction,itisbettertohaveasoilwithahighproportionofsiltand/orclaywhichwillholdwater
well. To check quickly on the texture of the soil at different depths, here are two very simple tests you can
perform.

Throwtheballtest

Take a handful of moist soil and squeeze it into a

ball Throw the ball into the air about 50 cm and then
catchit...

Iftheballfallsapart,itispoorsoilwithtoomuch If the ball sticks together, it is probably good soil

sand withenoughclayinit.

Squeezetheballtest

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Takeahandfulofsoilandwetit,sothatitbeginsto Squeezeithard,thenopenyourhand...
sticktogetherwithoutstickingtoyourhand

Ifthesoilretainstheshapeofyourhand,thereis If the soil does not retain the shape of your
probablyenoughclayinittobuildafishpond hand,thereistoomuchsandinit.

6.2Howtofindtheapproximateproportionsofsand,siltandclay
Thisisasimpletestwhichwillgiveyouageneralideaoftheproportionsofsand,siltandclaypresentinthesoil.

Thebottletest

Put5cmofsoilinabottleandfillitwithwater
Stirthewaterandsoilwell,putthebottledown,and
donottouchitforanhour.Attheendofanhour,the
water will have cleared and you will see that the
largerparticleshavesettled

Atthebottomisalayerofsand
Inthemiddleisalayerofsilt
Onthetopisalayerofclay.Ifthewaterisstillnot
clear,it is because some of the finest clay is still
mixedwiththewater
On the surface of the water there may be bits of
organicmatterfloating
Measure the depth of the sand, silt and clay and
estimatetheapproximateproportionofeach.

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6.3Howtoratesoiltexturefromfinetocoarse

Soiltexturemayberatedfromfinetocoarse.Afinetextureindicatesahighproportionoffinerparticlessuchas
siltandclay.Acoarsetextureindicatesahighproportionofsand.Moreprecisedefinitionsmaybeobtainedfrom
Table4.Thesimpletestbelowwillhelpyoutoratethesoiltexturefromcoarsetofine.

Themudballtest

Take a handful of soil, wet it, and work it to the

consistencyofdough Continue to work it between thumb and forefinger
andmakeamudballabout3cmindiameter

Soil texture can be determined by the way the ball

actswhenyouthrowitatahardsurface,suchasa
walloratree...

If the soil is good only for splatter shots (C) when

eitherwetordry,ithasacoarsetexture

If there is a "shotgun" pattern (D) when dry and it

holds its shape against a mediumrange target
whenwet,ithasamoderatelycoarsetexture

If the ball shatters on impact (E) when dry and

clings together when moist but does not stick to
thetarget,ithasamediumtexture

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If the ball holds its shape for longrange shots (F)

whenwetandstickstothetargetbutisfairlyeasy
toremove,ithasamoderatelyfinetexture

If the ball sticks well to the target (G) when wet

andbecomesaveryhardmissilewhendry,ithasa
finetexture.

6.4Soiltexturalclassesandfieldtestsfortheirdetermination

Amoreaccuratedeterminationofsoiltexture

Soilsmaybeassignedtotexturalclassesdependingontheproportionsofsand,siltandclaysizeparticles.
ThesetexturalclassesaredefinedinTable4andtheyarerepresentedinTable6.Inthefield,thereareseveral
waysbywhichyoucanfindthetexturalclassofthefineearthportionofaparticularsoilsample.

Theballshakingtest

Takeahandfulofsoilandwetit
Makeaballabout35cmindiameter

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Placetheballonthepalmofyourhand:itappears Shakeitfromsidetosiderapidlywhilewatchingthe
shiny surfaceoftheball...

If the surface of the ball becomes rapidly dull and If the surface of the ball becomes dull more slowly
youcaneasilybreaktheballbetweenyourfingers, and you feel some resistance when breaking the
itissandorloamysand ballbetweenyourfingers,itissiltorclayloam

If the surface of the ball does not change and you
feelresistancewhenbreakingtheball,itisclay or
siltyclay.

Thedrycrushingtest

Takeasmallsampleofdrysoilinyourhand Crushitbetweenyourfingers

Ifthereislittleresistanceandthesamplefallsinto If there is medium resistance, it is silty clay or
dust,itisfinesandorfineloamysandorthereis sandyclay
verylittleclaypresent

Ifthereisgreatresistance,itisclay.

Themanipulativetest

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Themanipulativetestgivesyouabetterideaofthesoiltexture.Thistestmustbeperformedexactlyinthe
sequencedescribedbelowbecause,tobesuccessful,eachsteprequiresprogressivelymoresiltandmoreclay.

Takeahandfulofsoilandwetitsothatitbeginsto
sticktogether,butwithoutstickingtoyourhand

Roll the soil sample into a ball about 3 cm in Puttheballdown...
diameter

Ifitfallsapart,itissand
Ifitstickstogether,goontothenextstep.
Rolltheballintoasausageshape,67cmlong...

Ifitdoesnotremaininthisform,itisloamysand
Ifitremainsinthisshape,goontothenextstep.
Continue to roll the sausage until it reaches 1516
cmlong

If it does not remain in this shape, it is sandy
loam
Ifitremainsinthisshape,goontothenextstep.
Trytobendthesausageintoahalfcircle...

Ifyoucannot,itisloam
Ifyoucan,goontothenextstep.
Continuetobendthesausagetoformafullcircle...
Ifyoucannot,itisheavyloam
If you can, with slight cracks in the sausage, it is
lightclay
Ifyoucan,withnocracksinthesausage,itisclay.

Theshakingtest:howtodifferentiateclayfromsilt

Bothsiltandclaysoilshaveaverysmoothtexture.Itisveryimportanttobeabletotellthedifferencebetween
thesetwosoilsbecausetheymaybehaveverydifferentlywhenusedasconstructionmaterialfordamsordikes
wherethesiltmaynothaveenoughplasticity.Siltysoilswhenwetmaybecomeveryunstable,whileclayisa
verystableconstructionmaterial.plasticity.Siltysoilswhenwetmaybecomeveryunstable,whileclayisavery
stableconstructionmaterial.

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Takeasampleofsoilandwetit Formapattyabout8cmindiameterandabout1.5
cmthick

Placethepattyinthepalmofyourhand:itappears Ifitssurfaceappearsshiny,itissilt
dull Ifitssurfaceappearsdull,itisclay.
Shakethepattyfromsidetosidewhilewatchingits
surface...

Confirm this result by bending the patty between Ifitssurfacebecomesdullagain,itissilt

yourfingers... Putthepattyasideandletitdrycompletely

If it is brittle and dust comes off when rubbing it Ifitisfirmanddustdoesnotcomeoffwhenrubbing
withyourfingers,itissilt itwithyourfingers,itisclay.

Note:recordtheresultsoftheshakingtestrapid,slow,veryslow,notatallaccordingtothespeedwithwhich
thesurfaceofthepattybecomesshinywhenyoushakeit.
TABLE4
USDAtexturalclassesofsoils1
Commonnamesofsoils(General
Sand Silt Clay Texturalclass
texture)
86100 014 010 Sand
Sandysoils(Coarsetexture)
7086 030 015 Loamysand
Loamy soils (Moderately coarse
5070 050 020 Sandyloam
texture)
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Loamysoils(Mediumtexture) 2352 2850 727 Loam

2050 7488 027 Siltyloam
020 88100 012 Silt
2045 1552 2740 Clayloam
Loamy soils (Moderately fine
4580 028 2035 Sandyclayloam
texture)
020 4073 2740 Siltyclayloam
4565 020 3555 Sandyclay
Clayeysoils(Finetexture) 020 4060 4060 Siltyclay
045 040 40100 Clay

1BasedontheUSDAparticlesizeclassification,asdefinedinTable2.

6.5Laboratorytestsfortexturalclasses
Ifyouneedtodefinethetexturalclassofyoursoilmoreaccurately,youshouldtakedisturbedsoilsamplestoa
testinglaboratoryforaquantitativedeterminationoftheparticlesizes.Thisiscalledamechanicalsoilanalysis.
Thefollowingaresomeofthethingswhichmaybedoneinthesoillaboratory:

Yoursoilsamplewillbedried
Particlesgreaterthan2mm,suchasgravelandstones,willberemoved
Theremainingpartofthesample,thefineearth,willbefinelygroundtofreealltheseparateparticles
Thetotalweightofthefineearthwillbeaccuratelymeasured
Thefineearthwillbepassedthroughaseriesofsieves*withmeshofdifferentsizes,downtoabout0.1mmin
diameter
Theweightofthecontentsofeachsievewillbecalculatedseparatelyandexpressedasapercentofthetotalinitial
weightofthefineearth
Theweightsoftheverysmallparticlesofsiltandclaywhichhavepassedthroughthefinestsievewillbemeasured
bysedimentation.Theywillalsobeexpressedasapercentofthetotalinitialweightofthefineearth.

Theresultsofamechanicalsoilanalysismadeinthelaboratorymaybegiventoyouinoneofthefollowing
forms:
Samplebysampleasalist(seeTable5)
Samplebysampleonseparatecards(seeexamplebelow)
Asaseriesofmoredetailedtables(seeSection6.7).

Withtheseresults,youmayassigneitheraparticulartexturalclasstoeachsampleusingthetexturaltriangle
method(seeSection6.6),orprepareaparticlesizefrequencycurvefromwhichyoucandrawyourown
conclusions(seeSection6.7).

Note:itisimportanttoknowwhichsystemofparticlesizeclassification(Table2)isbeingusedbythesoil
laboratoryfortesting.IfitistheoneusedbytheUSDepartmentofAgriculture(USDA)whichdefinessiltfrom
0.05to0.002mm,followthemethoddescribed.However,ifthelaboratoryusesanothersystemsuchasthe
internationalsystemwhichdefinessiltfrom0.02to0.002mm,youshouldrequestanadditionalquantitative
determinationofparticlesizesof0.05to0.02mmindiameter(coarsesilt).Thiswillallowyoutomodifythe
resultsgiventoyou,toadjustthemtotheUSDAsystem,andtousethefollowingtexturaltrianglemethod.

Usually,acompletemechanicalanalysisofyoursoilsampleisnotnecessary.Foryourrequirements,asimple
particlesizeanalysismaybesufficient.Thisgivesyouthepercentageofsoilparticleswithasizeequaltoor
largerthan0.075mmindiameter.Ifthepercentageislessthan50percent,itisafinegrainedsoil(finetexture).If
thepercentageismorethan50percent,itisacoarsegrainedsoil(coarsetexture).Withthisinformationyoucan
thenjudgethesoilqualityasdescribedinSections11.2and11.3.

Note:0.075mmistheopeningsizeofUSStandardSieveNo.200.Forengineers,thisparticularsizerepresents
theseparationlimitbetweensandandsilt+clay(seeTable2,line6).

Example
Typicalmechanicalsoilanalysiscard

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TABLE5
Mechanicalsoilanalysisparticlesizeanalyses:texturalclassesandpHforselectedsoilsamples
SampleNo. Sand Silt Clay
Texturalclass pH
Percentage
1 43.0 28.0 29.0 Clayloam 9.4
2 70.0 24.0 6.0 Sandyloam 7.6
3 78.0 18.0 4.0 Loamysand 7.8
4 44.0 42.0 14.0 Loam 7.9
5 67.0 15.5 17.5 Sandyloam 7.4
28 29.0 30.0 41.0 Clay
35 65.0 12.5 22.5 Sandyclayloam
36 21.0 74.0 5.0 Siltyloam
39 86.0 10.0 4.0 Sand
45 56.0 24.0 20.0 Sandyloam
46 41.0 46.5 12.5 Loam
47 48.0 34.5 17.5 Loam
50 47.5 20.0 32.5 Sandyclayloam
325 9.2 22.0 68.8 Clay
312 27.2 12.0 60.8 Clay
318 27.2 16.0 56.8 Clay
A430 66 25 9 Sandyloam
A530 72 23 5 Sandyloam
A5180 71 28 1 Loamysand
A760 52 35 13 Loam
A7120 64 28 8 Sandyclayloam

6.6Thetexturaltrianglemethodtodeterminethebasictexturalclasses

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ThetexturaltrianglemethodisbasedontheUSDAsystemofparticlesizewherethefollowingclassificationis
used:

Silt:allparticleswithinthesizerangeof0.0020.05mm
Clay:allparticlessmallerthan0.002mm.

Todefinethetextureofthefineearthfraction:

Sendyoursoilsampletoasoillaboratoryformechanicalanalysis
Whenyoureceivetheresultsofthisanalysis,find,ifnecessary,therelativepercentagesofsand,siltandclay,as
definedabove,withinthetotalsizerangeof0.0022mm.

Foreachsoilsample,determineitstexturalclassusingthetriangulardiagramshowninTable6asfollows:
Findthepercentageofsandalongthebaseofthetriangleandfollowaline,goinguptowardtheleft
Findthepercentageofclayalongtheleftsideofthetriangleandfollowtotherightthehorizontallineuntilyoumeet
thepreviouslineforsand(pointo).Thispointshowsthesoilsampletexture
Checkthatthispointcorrespondstothepercentageofsiltofyouranalysisbyfollowingalinefrompoint0uptothe
right,untilyoureachthepercentsiltscaleontherightsideofthetriangle
Ifthevalueagreesforsilt,yoursoilsampletextureisdeterminedbytheareaofthetriangleinwhichpoint0falls,
asindicatedintheexamplebelow.

TABLE6
TriangulardiagramofthebasicsoiltexturalclassesaccordingtoUSDAparticlesizes

NOTE:Thesoiltexturalclassesshownintheredportionofthelargetrianglearebestforfishpond
construction.

Example PARTICLESIZES
clay <0.002mm
silt 0.0020.05mm
sand 0.052mm

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6.7Theparticlesizefrequencycurve
Theusualmechanicalanalysisprovidespercentagesforthethreeparticlesizeclassesofsand,siltandclay,such
astheoneforclayloamshownintheexample.

If this is not sufficient, some soil laboratories can provide a much more detailed analysis, with a further
breakdowngivingtherelativeamountsofsoilparticlesformoresizeclasses.Theresultsofthiskindofanalysis
maybegivenintheformofasimpletablewheretheweightforeachparticlesizeisgivenasapercentageofthe
totaldryweightofthefineearthofthesoilsample,suchastheoneshownbelow.

Example Example
. Percent Amoredetailedmechanicalsoilanalysisforaclayloam
Sand 32 Percent Particlesize(mm) Percenttotaldryweight
Silt 38 1 0.3
Clay 30 0.2 1.7
Sand32
=Clayloam 0.075 17
0.04 13
0.025 17
0.02 9
0.01 8
Silt38
0.005 3
0.0035 0.5
0.002 0.5
<0.002
Clay30

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Itmayalsobegivenasaparticlesizefrequencycurve(PSF
curve),asdescribedandshowninthenextparagraph.

Note: for very small particles (less than 0.1 mm in diameter), soil technicians often use the measurement unit
calledmicron(m)toavoidtoomanydecimals.

1micron(m)=0.001mm(oronethousandthofamillimetre)
1mm=1000m

Examples

0.075mm=75m0.0035=3.5m
0.002mm=2m0.0007=0.7m

WhatisaPSFcurve? Example
Atypicalparticlesizefrequencycurve
Aparticlesizefrequencycurveisplottedonagraph
where the logarithms of the particle size are shown
onthehorizontalaxis,withthesizedecreasingtoward
the right, and the cumulative percentages of
occurrence of the particle size are shown on the

verticalaxis. IP=Approximateinflexionpoint

Note:generally,twoscalesareshownonthevertical
axis. To the left, the percentages relate to particles
passingthroughsievesofaparticularsize.Here,the
percentagesincreasefrombottomtotop.Totheright,
the percentages relate to particles not passing
through sieves of a particular size. Here, the
percentagesincreasefromtoptobottom.

WhatdoesaPSFcurveshow?

IfyoulookattheexamplesofparticlesizefrequencycurvesinTable7,youwillnotethefollowing:

Theinflexionpoint (IP) of the curve shows you the most frequent particle size by weight in some cases, there
maybemorethanoneinflexionpointas,forexample,ifthesample(acompositesample)containsmorethanone
typeofsoil(seeTable7,curvesdande)
The more vertical the curve or part of the curve, the more uniform the particle size a vertical line represents a
perfectlyuniformparticlesize
Themoreinclinedthecurveorpartofthecurve,thegreaterthedifferencebetweentheparticlesizes,thesmaller
theporesbetweentheparticles,andthemorecompactthesoil
Thetotalquantityofsoilparticleswithinaparticularrangeofparticlesizes is defined as the area below the
PSFcurvewhichliesbetweenthesetwoparticlesizes,as,forexample,from0.08mmto0.3mm(shadedarea)
(seeTable7,curvec).Tofindthisquantityasapercentageofthetotaldryweightofthesoilsample,transferthe
pointswhichcorrespondto0.08mmand0.3mmonthePSFcurvetooneoftheverticalscalesandcalculatethe
percent difference: in this case, read on the left vertical scale, 68 percent and 75 percent. The difference is 7
percent.

TABLE7
Typicalparticlesizefrequencycurves

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Note:Table8shows fivePSFcurvesfor five types of soil, varying from gravel/sand to heavy clay. Study each
carefullytoobserveitsrelativepositioninthegraph,itsinflexionpointanditsinclination.

TABLE8
Particlesizefrequencycurvesforselectedsoilsshowingmechanicalanalysisresultsdowntoverysmall
particlesofclay

1Gravelandsand(oldalluvium),2Sand,3Silt,4Calcareousclayeysoil(marl),5Heavyclay

HowdoyougetaPSFcurve?
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SomelaboratoriesprovideaPSFcurveforsoilsamplesandsomedonot.Whenyoureceivetheresultsofa
mechanicalsoilanalysis,youmayalsogetaPSFcurve.Foreachsoilsample,youwillreceiveagraphshowing
onePSFcurve. Table10 shows a PSFcurve prepared by a soil laboratory for one soil sample, see example
below.

IfyoursoillaboratorydoesnotgiveyouaPSFcurve,youwillreceivetheresultsintheformofatablegivingthe
frequencyofoccurrence(inpercentoftotaldryweight)foracertainnumberofparticlesizes.Youcanusethis
table to prepare a PSFcurve yourself. Table9 is a blank graph that you can use to prepare a PSFcurve. If
possible,useaphotocopyofTable9foreachcurveyouplot.Youwillthenbeabletousetheblankgraphover
andoveragain,tomakemorephotocopies.

HowtodrawaPSFcurve

TodrawaPSFcurve,proceedasfollows:
Calculatethecumulativepercentagesofoccurrenceforeachgivenparticlesize,startingwiththelargestsize
EnterthecumulativepercentagesinpencilonaphotocopyoftheblankgraphinTable9,usingtherightvertical
scale
Jointhesepointsbydrawingacontinuouscurve:thisisaPSFcurve.

Note: remember that cumulative percentages represent weights of particles that have not passed through a
particularsizesieve.Therefore,usetherightverticalscaleofthegraph(0lineatthetop)forplottingcumulative
percentages.

Example

Using the more detailed mechanical analysis at left, calculate the cumulative percentages for each particle
size

YOURECEIVETHIS YOUCALCULATETHIS
Particlesize(mm) Percenttotaldryweight Cumulativepercentages
1 0.3 0.3
0.2 1.7 2
0.075 17 19
0.04 13 32

0.025 17 49
0.02 9 58
0.01 8 66
0.005 3 69
0.0035 0.5 69.5
0.002 0.5 70

Plotthecumulativepercentagesontheblankgraph,usingtherightverticalscale

DrawaPSFcurvebyjoiningthesepoints,asshownintable10.

TABLE9
Blankscalefordrawingparticlesizefrequencycurves

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HowtouseaPSFcurvetoobtainparticlesizefrequencypercentages

ToobtainthepercentagesofoccurrenceofcertainparticlesizesusingaPSFcurve,suchas,forexample,to
findthetexturalclassusingthetexturaltrianglemethod,proceedasfollows:
Using the right vertical scale (0line at the top), read from the given PSFcurve the cumulative percentages
correspondingtoselectedparticlesizes,suchas0.05mm(limitsandsilt)and0.002mm(limitsiltclay)
Writethesereadingsinatwowaytablewhichgivesthecumulativepercentageforeachparticlesize,startingwith
thelargest
Calculatethefrequencyofoccurrenceofeachrangeofparticlesize.

Example
YouhavereceivedthePSFcurveshownin Table 10
fromthelaboratory

Youwanttoknowthepercentagesofoccurrencefor
particleswithintheranges20.05mm(sand),0.05
0.002mm(silt),andlessthan0.002mm(clay)tofind
the textural class you also want to know the 0.075 Particlesize(mm) Cumulativepercent
mmpercentages 2 0
Forthesevaluesofparticlesizes,readthecumulative 0.05 28
percentages of particle sizes and enter them into a 0.002 70
twowaytableasshown. 0.075 19

You have already been shown how to calculate the
total quantity of soil particles (frequency of
mm Percent
occurrence)withinaparticularrangeofparticlesizes.
Now, calculate in the same way the frequencies of Sand20.05 280=28
occurrence for sand, silt, and clay (in that order) for Silt0.050.002 7028=42
thePSFcurveinTable10.Theyareasfollows: Claylessthan0.002 10070=30

Introduce these values 284230 into the textural
triangle (see Table 6) the soil is a clay loam, a
moderatelyfinetexturedsoil.

From the 0.075mm particlesize reading, you

conclude that the sample contains 19 percent of
particleslargerthan
0.075mm.

TABLE10

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Atypicalparticlesizefrequencycurvefromasoillaboratory

FurtherusesofthePSFcurve:effectivesizeanduniformitycoefficient

AnotherimportantuseofthePSFcurveistoexpressthecharacteristicsoftheparticlesizedistributionofasoil
by numericalvaluessothattheresultsofagreatnumberofsoilsamplesmaybeeasilycompared.Engineers
frequentlyuseHazen'smethodwhichdefinestwoparticularvalueswhicharemostsuitableforsands.Theseare:
TheeffectivesizeorD10ofasoilisthediameterinmillimetresofthesievethroughwhich10percent(byweight)of
thesamplepasses

Note:thisvaluegivesanestimateofthemostimportantparticlesizesbyweight:10percentofthesoilconsistsof
particlessmallerthanD10,90percentofthesoilconsistsofparticleslargerthanD10

Theuniformitycoefficient or U of a soil is the ratio of the diameter (in mm) of the sieve hole through which 60
percent(byweight)ofthesamplepasses(D60)totheeffectivesize(D10)orU=D60D10

Note:whenthePSFcurveisaverticalline(U=1),theparticlesofthesoilsampleareperfectlyuniforminsize.
Usually,Uis not equal to 1 and the more difference there is, the more the particle size varies within the soil
sample.

ToobtainD10andD60,findthepointswherethePSFcurveintersectsthehorizontallineswhichcorrespondon
theleftverticalscaletothecumulativepercentagesof10and60percentrespectively.

Example

To calculate the effective sizes and the uniformity coefficients from the four PSFcurves shown in Table 11
(curves14),proceedasfollows:

Drawhorizontallinesonthegraphstartingfrom10percentand60percentrespectivelyoftheleftverticalscale

FindtheD10forthecurvesalongthe10percentline,whichshowsthefollowingresults:

Curve1D10=0.6mm
Curve2D10=0.1mm
Curve3D10=0.045mm
Curve4D10=0.00085mm

FindinthesamewaytheD60forthecurvesalongthe60percentline:

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Curve1D60=6mm
Curve2D60=0.14mm
Curve3D60=0.023mm
Curve4D60=0.0065mm

CalculatetheuniformitycoefficientsasU=D60D10:

Curve1U=60.6=10
Curve2U=0.140.1=1.4
Curve3U=0.0230.045=0.5
Curve4U=0.00650.00085=7.6

Note:themoreverticalthePSFcurve(Ucloserto1),themoreuniformthesoilsample.

TABLE11
Calculationofeffectivesizesanduniformitycoefficientsfromparticlesizefrequencycurves

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