Blog Post 2- The soil and decay of the grounds

Hello!

Welcome back to Hogwarts geography!

In this post, I'd like to go into more detail about the other geographical features surrounding Hogwarts such as the differences in soil surrounding the area and also the weathering and rock decay forms surrounding the grounds.

The soil surrounding Hogwarts differentiates throughout the campus grounds.

On the mountain where the school is plotted, the soil is seen to be very stony and coarse. 

Most likely classified as Entisol soil. Some of the weathering seen in the rocks supporting the castle can easily be identified as joints, frost decay from the harsh winters, root pressure from the forest surrounding the grounds, as well as Epilithic organisms living on the rock. 

Here you can see joints in the rock 

Here you can see some of the chemical weathering from moss forming on the rocks

Picture depicting some of the rockier soil surrounding the grounds. Also shows some spheroidal weathering of rocks in the top right corner.


It's also safe to assume that the area sees a lot more physical decaying of rock just from the amount of students and people on the grounds alone.

As you make your way into the forbidden forest you'll find much more organic soil making the ground more smooth. It is most likely classified as Histosol or Spodosol soil since these are common in the Highland area.

The soil throughout the forbidden forest is prone to its own weathering and erosion. From centaurs, to Unicorns, to Thestrals, to spiders the size of a car, as well as many other dark and mysterious creatures it's safe to assume they put a lot of wear and tear on the forest.

Here you can see the beginnings forest from the outside

Here you can see some of the forest from inside

 It's also very risky to build such an enormous castle on a mountain slope that is very prone to slope slides, falls and topples. But as a stated in the previous post, it is safe to assume since the school as been in it's same physical form for thousands of years that some sort of enchantment has been places upon the school to assure no extreme mass wasting of the slopes occur.

Until next time, Thanks for reading!

sources

http://www.snh.org.uk/publications/on-line/livinglandscapes/soils/soillandscapes.asp

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Forbidden_Forest

http://clasfaculty.ucdenver.edu/callen/1202/Soils/Soils.html

http://clasfaculty.ucdenver.edu/callen/1202/Battle/Destroy/MassWasting/MassWasting.htm