Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Minerals Make a Difference

Soils are multivitamins with minerals.

Soils supply mineral nutrients for living organisms. Plants absorb dissolved nutrients from soil water. Animals, including humans, get nutrients by eating plants.

Identifying the solid minerals in a soil helps us predict how fertile a soil might be, how long it will hold moisture, and what kinds of engineering or construction projects it could support. Minerals can also indicate the age of the soil and the climate in which it formed.