If an escaped elephant runs over to your house and starts dancing in the backyard, you’ll probably get a bad case of “soil compaction.”
A loose soil has a lot of tiny spaces between the individual soil particles. But if a soil is compacted, that means it is squashed together. The spaces between the soil particles become much smaller.
When a soil is smashed together, it’s harder for plant roots to move through the ground, which can be a problem. Also, less water can move down into compacted soil. This means more water will stay on top of the ground, where it can cause erosion and flooding.
The most common way for a soil to become compacted is when heavy machines (not elephants) run across it--especially when the soil is wet. This is why it’s not a good idea to park cars under a tree. The soil can become compacted, making it harder for the tree roots to take up water and nutrients.
Heavy equipment can “compact” the soil. Its weight squishes the soil particles together.
Photo: USDA NRCS
See that layer of smashed-together soil near the top of this photo? That is a “compacted” layer, created by farm machinery. Water and roots have a tough time moving through a compacted layer.