Identify the correct statement from among the following :

Soil texture is classified by the relative proportion of particles of different sizes present in the soil — sand particles are large and coarse, silt particles are medium-sized, and clay particles are extremely fine. Based on this composition, sandy soil is dominated by large, coarse particles; clayey soil is dominated by very fine, clay-sized particles; and loamy soil is a more even, balanced mixture of sand, silt, and clay.

Applying this to clayey and loamy soil: because clayey soil is overwhelmingly made up of fine clay particles while loamy soil balances a substantial sand component with silt and clay, the share of fine particles in clayey soil is markedly higher than the share of fine particles in loamy soil.

• The claim that sandy soil carries a higher proportion of fine particles than clayey soil does not hold, because sandy soil is dominated by large, coarse particles while clayey soil is dominated by fine particles — the reverse of that claim.

• The claim that clayey soil has roughly equal amounts of large and fine particles does not hold, because clayey soil is overwhelmingly fine-particled, with only a small coarse fraction.

• The claim that loamy soil carries a higher proportion of large particles than sandy soil does not hold, because sandy soil, being dominated by coarse sand, carries a larger proportion of big particles than the more balanced loamy mixture.

Hence, the statement that clayey soil carries a relatively higher proportion of fine particles than loamy soil is the accurate one.