The following diagram, called the "Soil Texture Triangle",
shows the names that soil scientists give to different mixtures of particle
sizes in different soils. The terms
silt,
clay, and
sand refer
to particles in
particular ranges of sizes:
100 0
/\
/ \
90/_ _ \10
/(Heavy\
/ Clay)\
80/_ _ \/_ _ \20
/\ /\ /\
/
\
70/_ _ \/_ _ \/_ _ \30
_ /\ /\
/\ /\
/| /
Clay \
/ 60/_ _ \/_ _ \/_ _ \/_ _ \40
% Clay
/\ /\ /\ /\
/\ % Silt
/ \
/ \
\
50/_ _ \/_ _ \/_ _ \/_ _ \/____\50
_\|
/Sandy-\ /\ /\
/Silty-\
/ -Clay \
/ -Clay \
40/____\/____\/____\/____\/____\/____\60
/\ /\ /\
/\ /\ /\ /\
/
Sandy-Clay- \ Clay-Loam \ Silty-Clay\-Loam
30/_ _ \/_ _
\/_ _ \/____\/____\/____\/____\70
/\
/\ -Loam /\ /\
/\ /\ /\
/ \
/ Loam \ /
\
20/____\/____\/____\/_
_ \/_ _ \/_ _ \/_ _ \/_ _ \80
/\ /\
/\ /\ /\ /\
/\ /\ /\
/ Loamy-\ /
Sandy-
\
/ \ / Silt-Loam
\
10/____\/_ _ \/_ _ \/_ _ \/____\/_
_ \/_ _ \/_ _ \/____\90
/\ /\
/\ /\ /\ /\
/\ /\ /\ /\
/ Sand/ -Sand \
-Loam /
/ Silt \
0/____\/____\/____\/____\/____\/____\/____\/____\/____\/____\100
100 90 80 70
60 50 40 30
20 10 0
<--% Sand
I have added hyphens to the various texture names, so that you know
which pieces of name go with which others.