Soil Texture Classification

Although soil texture is not a salinity measure, it is often included with salt tests because texture greatly influences how salty soil can be managed. Soil texture indicates the relative amount of sand, silt, and clay particles in a soil sample. The proportions of these three particle sizes influences several soil properties, including water infiltration, percolation, soil aeration, moisture holding capacity, and others. Soils with a high percentage of small clay particles are called “heavy-textured” and are characterized by slow water infiltration into the soil, slow water percolation through the soil, low soil aeration, and a tendency for the soil to hold moisture with great tension. Soils with a high percentage of large sand particles are called “light-textured” and are characterized by rapid water infiltration and percolation, high soil aeration, but low water holding capacity. Light soils (sands and loamy sands) lend themselves to management practices designed to reduce soil salinity by leaching salts from the soil with applications of excess, low-salt irrigation water. Heavy soils (silty clay, sandy clay, clay) are generally more difficult to manage for salinity than soils classified as sandy or loamy. Medium-textured soils (sandy loams, loams, sandy clay loam, clay loam, silt, silt loam, silty clay loam) fall somewhere between light- and heavy-textured soils in terms of their properties and management.

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Last Modified: 10/10/2007