Soil is an important habitat for both producers (green plants) and decomposers

(bacteria and fungi). While air and water are both self-purifying systems with regard to
most inorganic contaminants, soil is a sink - receiving fall-out from the atmosphere
which it absorbs or filters, and could retain materials from infiltrating natural waters. Soil
also serves as nature’s recycling system, it provides habitat for a myriad of living
organisms and in human built ecosystems, and it serves as engineering medium (Karle
et al., 1997).
http://shodh.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/333/3/03_literature%20review.pdf

Civil Engineering structures, ultimately rest on the soil. They handover their whole
load to the soil, so they have to construct the foundations to retain these structures. In
case of the hard soil having sufficient strength we can provide the narrow foundations. If
we know the strength of the soil then we can decide which type of foundation is to be
used. If the soil is weak in strength then we have to provide the deep foundations like
pile foundation, well foundation etc. It is important to know the method to calculate the
method to know the strength of the soil.
Sharma, Sanjay Kumar (2013). Importance Of The Soil Mechanics For The Civil
Engineers.http://soilmechanicsandfoundationengineering.blogspot.com/2013/02/importance-of-soil-
mechanics-for-civil.html

Soil health and soil quality are defined as the capacity of soil to function as a vital
living system within land use boundaries. Thisfunction which sustains biological
productivity of soil also maintains the quality of surrounding environment and human
health.Thus the two terms are used interchangeably although it is important to
distinguish that, soil quality is related to soil function,whereas soil health presents the
soil as a finite non-renewable and dynamic living resource.
Laishram, Joyalata & Gopal Saxena, Krishna & Maikhuri, Rakesh & Rao, Kottapalli. (2012). Soil quality
and soil health: A review.. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. 38.

Particle size distribution, also known as gradation, refers to the proportions by dry
mass of a soil distributed over specified particle-size ranges. Gradation is used to
categorize soils for engineering and agricultural purposes, since particle size affects
how fast or slow water or other fluid moves through a soil. “Knowing the grain size
distribution of a soil is important for a variety of reasons and for a range of uses,” says
Kendra Adams, senior quality assurance engineer, Fugro Consultants Inc., and a D18
member. “Gradation results influence the design of earthen dams, levees and landfills.”
https://www.astm.org/cms/drupal-7.51/newsroom/importance-particle-size-distribution-emphasized-
proposed-astm-soil-and-rock-standards
 Atterberg limits and consistency indices are used for classifications of cohesive
(fine-grained) soils in relation with compaction and tillage practices. They also provide
information for interpreting several soil mechanical and physical properties such as
shear strength, compressibility, shrinkage and swelling potentials. Although, several
studies have been conducted regarding the land use effects on various soil mechanical
properties, little is known about the effects of land use and slope positions on Atterberg
limits and consistency indices. A study was conducted to investigate the effects of land
use and slope position on selected soil physical and chemical properties, Atterberg
limits and consistency indices in hilly region of western Iran.
Zolfaghari, Zahra & Mosaddeghi, Mohammad Reza & Ayoubi, Shamsollah & Kelishadi, Hamid.
(2015). Soil atterberg limits and consistency indices as influenced by land use and slope position in
Western Iran. Journal of Mountain Science. 12. 1471-1483. 10.1007/s11629-014-3339-z.