The soil makers
Hundreds of millions of years ago, all the land was just bare, hard
rock, sand, or clay. Now, soil covers most of the land. Where did the
soil come from?
Plants and weather made it. The first living things on land were plants
that grew out of water onto wet rocks. The plants pushed tiny roots into
cracks in the rocks. Slowly, with the help of wind and rain, the roots
broke the rocks and crumbled them into tiny pieces.
As plants died, they too broke into tiny pieces. And this mixture of
crumbled rock and dead plants lying on the wet rocks was the first soil.
The first plants to live on land helped make the first soil in which
other plants could live and grow. And every plant that has lived and
died since, has helped make more of the soil that now covers most of the
land.
