In genereal terms when relating to soil texture, soil type most often refers to the different sizes of the mineral particles within that soil.
Soil is made up of finely ground rock particles, that are generally grouped according to size as sand, silt, and clay. Each different group plays a different role to the other.
The kind with the largest particles, sand, determines aeration and drainage characteristics, while the tiniest, sub-microscopic clay particles, are actually chemically active and binds the water and plant nutrients. The ratio of each of these different sizes determines the kind of soil you have:
- clay
- loam
- clay-loam
- silt-loam, and so on.
However, in the much more broader sense refers to a pedological classification of the natural (or human-influenced) soil.
When referring to this pedalogical classification it is probably more correct to speak not of soil type, but rather of soil class.
Different types of soil consist of such things as clay, pebbles, gravel, sand, and other minerals. However, not all types of soil are permeable. Many fine grained-soils that have been broken down over many many decades become extremely small.
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