what is soil formation

Soil formation, also known as pedogenesis, is the process of soil genesis as regulated by the effects of place, environment, and history. Pedologists have identified five fundamental soil formation processes that influence soil: parent material, climate, organisms, topography, and time. These factors interact to create a wide variety of soils with different physical, chemical, and biological properties. Soil is formed from the weathering of rocks and is made up of mineral particles, organic materials, air, water, and living organisms, and it takes many tens of thousands of years to form. The five main interacting factors that affect soil formation are parent material, living organisms, climate, topography, and time