Final answer:
Weathering is the physical process responsible for soil creation, breaking down Earth materials and forming soil through mechanical and chemical processes influenced by climate, organisms, and relief.
Step-by-step explanation:
The physical process responsible for soil creation is weathering. This process involves the breakdown of existing Earth materials, which over time leads to the creation of soil through both mechanical and chemical processes. Weathering affects various materials at different rates and contributes to the formation of different types of sedimentary rocks. Factors such as climate, organisms, and relief interact with the soil's parent material and, given sufficient time, produce the distinct layers called horizons essential for plant growth and ecological processes.
Erosion, on the other hand, is the process by which the Earth's surface is worn away by the movement of water, ice, or wind; whereas, weathering is the initial step that breaks down rocks into smaller particles that can then be eroded and transported elsewhere. Tectonic forces, while critical to shaping the Earth's surface, are not specifically involved in the creation of soil. Climate, organisms, and relief are three of the five fundamental factors that affect soil genesis, with the other two being parent material and time.