Soil

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Soil is the name for the various kinds of ground that can be planted on (both above and below ground) without irrigation using water. In Dwarf Fortress, the category of "Soil" includes all types of sand, clay, ooze and any "non-stone" layer equally, even if you or I generally don't associate that substance with "growing plants".

Topsoil	Tile
Loam	░. ≈
Loamy sand	▒. ≈
Peat	░. ≈
Sandy clay loam	░. ≈
Sandy loam	░. ≈
Silt	▓. ≈
Silty clay loam	░. ≈
Silt loam	▒. ≈
Ocean Floor	Tile
Pelagic clay	░. ≈
Siliceous ooze	▒. ≈
Calcareous ooze	▒. ≈
Sand	Tile
Sand (tan)	░≈ ≈
Black sand	▓≈ ≈
Red sand	░≈ ≈
White sand	▓≈ ≈
Yellow sand	▓≈ ≈
Clay	Tile
Clay	▓.
Clay loam	▒.
Sandy clay	▒.
Silty clay	▓.
Fire clay	▓.

Notes:

• The "topsoil" types listed in the upper part of the table do not count as sand for glassmaking, even if their names include the word "sand" - only those in the "Sand" section are usable for this purpose.
• The 3 "ocean floor" layers are only found under deep ocean tiles, usually far out from any embarkable site. Thus, they can rarely, if ever be encountered, in either fortress mode or adventurer mode.
• Soil layers marked with ≈ are capable of supporting an aquifer.
• The clay types listed at the bottom can be used for making ceramic items. Fire clay produces stoneware, while the other types produce earthenware.

In previous versions, types and quantities of available soils were listed at the bottom right of the fortress location selection screen; in the current version, however, it will only indicate the presence of soil and whether it can be used as clay.

Digging into soil does not generate any byproduct materials, unlike digging in rock, and also is a much faster process which makes it much easier to create storerooms and other large areas of empty space, and to train miners.

Soil cannot be smoothed, which makes it more difficult to make high-value rooms, or pierce aquifers, nor can it be used to make fortifications, either.

Building a farm plot or road or removing a construction on top of soil will cause it to become "furrowed", making it appear with the ≈ and ~ tiles. Furrowed soil — including furrowed subterranean soil — will gradually smooth itself out, at which point grass and other vegetation will begin to grow. Sand always appears as ≈ and ~ and cannot become furrowed - as such, sand roads do not last as long as those made on ordinary soil.

Trees and Shrubs

Once you discover the caverns, subterranean trees and shrubs will begin to grow on any subterranean soil.

Kaleidoscopic soil

Removal of the [SOIL] and [SOIL_SAND] tokens from all soils in the world's raw files (or substituting said tokens with nonfunctional ones) causes the existing soil tiles to glitch, rapidly changing their appearance and the material they are composed of. Mining such tiles may be spontaneously cancelled, and will otherwise yield random stones, gems, metal boulders, and boulders of generated materials, and leave behind a floor composed of the original layer material, which will behave like a stone floor.

The change can be reverted by re-adding the tokens into their proper positions. The mined resources will remain, and the mined out areas will turn into stone ones until the tokens are removed again.

The soil before and after the removal of soil tokens from the raws.

"Soil" in other Languages Dwarven: adur Elvish: avi Goblin: snustrok Human: ocul

V · T · E Materials
More: Gems • Metals • Stones
Creature	Blood • Bone • Cartilage • Cheese • Chitin • Egg • Fat • Feather • Hair (Wool • Yarn) • Hoof • Horn • Ichor • Leather • Milk • Meat • Nail • Nervous tissue • Organs • Parchment • Pearl • Scale • Shell • Silk • Skin • Spit • Sweat • Tallow • Tears • Tooth • Wax
Plant	Fiber (Paper • Slurry) • Flower • Fruit • Leaf • Oil • Plant powders (Dye • Flour • Sugar) • Seed (Press cake) • Wood
Creature/Plant	Alcohol • Extract (Golden salve • Gnomeblight • Honey • Royal jelly • Syrup • Venom) • Glob • Soap • Liquids
Inorganic	Metal • Milk of lime • Soil (Clay • Sand) • Stone (Ash glaze • Earthenware • Gem • Gypsum plaster • Porcelain • Quicklime • Stoneware • Tin glaze)
Hardcoded	Amber • Ash • Coral • Filth • Fuel • Glass • Grime • Ice • Lye • Magma • Mud • Pearlash • Potash • Salt • Unknown substance • Vomit • Water
See also: Material science

V · T · E Soil
Topsoil	Loam · Loamy sand · Peat · Sandy clay loam · Sandy loam · Silt · Silt loam · Silty clay loam
Ocean floor	Calcareous ooze · Pelagic clay · Siliceous ooze
Sand	Sand (tan) · Black sand · Red sand · White sand · Yellow sand
Clay	Clay · Clay loam · Fire clay · Sandy clay · Silty clay