Elite is a non-expanding clay mineral because it has K ions that fit into its crystalline structure of tetrahedrons forming a tight bond between layers. Mg and Ca ions fill up the space between layers not allowing water to enter. A soil cylinder with a volume of 300 cm3 is used to remove an undisturbed core of surface soil from a field. After being completely dried in an oven, the soil sample weighs 450 grams. A sample of a loam surface soil is taken from a fanner's field and analyzed in the lab.
Blocky structure has irregular shape.
Dark brown colors in soil result from the oxidation of iron. Vermiculite clays have isomorphic substitution concentrated in the octahedral sheet. When examining the kinds of minerals present in the different soil particle sizes, we find that dominates the sand fraction. Compacting a granular structured clay loam soil will its particle density. When soils that are dominated by dry out, wide cracks commonly form.