A soil monolith is a vertical section that is removed from a soil profile in the field that is prepared for mounting. Other types of models of soil can also be made that would help capture its profile properties. Each soil profile is different because soils differ greatly from each other and from one place to another, due to interactions between the Five Soil-Forming Factors . Each section of soil on a landscape has its own unique characteristics. The face of a soil, or the way it looks if you cut a section of it out of the ground, is called a soil profile, like the profile of a person's face.
Every soil profile is made up of layers called soil horizons.
Soil horizons can be as thin as a few millimeters or thicker than a meter. Soil profiles and their horizons change as you move across a landscape, and also change as you move downward deeper into the soil at one location. In fact, soil samples taken at the surface may have entirely different characteristics and appearances from soil dug deeper in the soil profile. One common reason soil horizons are different as you dig deeper is because of mixing of organic material in the upper horizons and weathering and leaching in the lower horizons. Erosion, deposition, and other forms of disturbance might also affect the way a soil profile looks at a particular location.