• glimmer_twin [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    Something can be 60% clay and still be clay? But something that is 90% sand isn’t sand?! Shit is crazy

    • Gorn [they/them,he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Clay is, really, a fundamentally different thing from silt and sand. It's so, so small that it has a hugely disproportionate impact per granule.

      Clay is the source of all life. It is so small that nutrients stick to it, making it the source of soil fertility and nutrient exchange. It has soooo much surface area per volume; takes just a lil bit of clay to get reeeal stick real fast.

      It also... grows. It's alive. Sand and silt are stones ground down into tiny bits. Clay actually grows out of the substrate, through crystalization, one molecule at a time. It's kinda a living being, that is the foundation of all soil-based life. Kinda base ngl hahahah (sry I really, really love clay hahaha)