Ped

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title: "Ped" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["soil"] description: "Aggregates of soil particles formed naturally" topic_path: "general/soil" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ped" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Aggregates of soil particles formed naturally ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Polyedergefüge.JPG" caption="Blocky peds"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Subangular_Blocky_Soil_Aggregate_in_Spain.jpg" caption="Soil aggregate in Spain"] ::

In soil science, peds are aggregates of soil particles formed naturally as a result of pedogenic processes; this natural organization of particles forms discrete units separated by pores or voids. The term is generally used for macroscopic (visible; i.e. greater than 1 mm in size) structural units when observing soils in the field. Soil peds should be described when the soil is dry or slightly moist, as they can be difficult to distinguish when wet. An artificially formed aggregate of soil particles can be called a clod.

There are five major classes of macrostructure seen in soils: platy, prismatic, columnar, granular, and blocky. There are also structureless conditions. Some soils have simple structure, each unit being an entity without component smaller units. Others have compound structure, in which large units are composed of smaller units separated by persistent planes of weakness.

References

References

1. (2006). "Guidelines for soil description". [[Food and Agriculture Organization.
2. (1999). "A dictionary of earth sciences". [[Oxford University Press]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::