Soil Genesis and Classification

Stanley W. Buol, Randal J. Southard, Robert C. Graham, Paul A. McDaniel

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9780470960608
• Edition: 6
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Agronomy
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Soil Genesis and Classification, Sixth Edition, builds on the success of the previous editions to present an unparalleled resource on soil formation and classification. Featuring a color plate section containing multiple soil profiles, this text also includes information on new classification systems and emerging technologies and databases with updated references throughout. Covering the diverse needs of both the academic and professional communities, this classic text will be a must have reference for all those in soil science and related fields.

SOIL GENESIS AND CLASSIFICATION
SIXTH EDITION

1

Introduction

This book discusses the composition of soils as natural bodies resulting from biogeochemical processes on the land surfaces of earth. It also examines human attempts to better understand the interaction of soils with biological components of the ecosystem, including humans, via the study and classification of soils. The main themes of soil genesis and classification follow:

1. Identification and description of soil profiles and pedons (soil morphology);

2. Characterization of chemical, mineralogical, and physical soil properties aided by laboratory and field investigations of soil properties;

3. Categorization and classification of soils according to similarity of properties and function;

4. Mapping the spatial distribution of soils as they exist on the earth’s surface;

5. Analyses of the relationships between soil properties and the many potential uses of soils.

All of these activities comprise a recognized area of specialization within the discipline of soil science. The Soil Science Society of America changed the name of its Soil Genesis, Morphology, and Classification division to Pedology about a decade ago (Simonson 1999). “Pedology” (from Gr. Pedos, “ground,” and logos, “science”; original formed as Russian, pedologiya) is a collective term used to refer to the combination of the two phases of soil science: (1) soil genesis and classification and (2) more inclusively, also soil morphology, survey or mapping, and interpretations. Pedology is practiced in many other countries, especially European and Asian countries and Australia (Editorial Staff 1940; Gibbs 1955; Leeper 1953, 1955; Northcote 1954). The International Union of Soil Sciences includes these aspects of soil science primarily in their commission of Soil in Space and Time.

Subdivisions of Pedology

Following are descriptions of each of the distinctive phases of activity encompassed by pedology.

Soil genesis is a century-old science that has dealt with soil in three conceptual phases: (1) as a geologic entity, (2) as a product of factors and processes of soil formation, and (3) as an open system capable of supporting the functions of soil in all ecosystems. Soil genesis includes concepts of biogeochemistry. It conceptualizes the factors and processes responsible for the chemical, physical, and mineralogical properties of all soils and the spatial distribution of various kinds of soil on the landscape.

Figure 1.1. A soil individual is a natural unit in the landscape, characterized by position, size, slope, profile, and other features.

Soil classification is the categorization of soils into groups at varying levels of generalization according to their physical, mineralogical, and chemical properties. The objectives of soil classification include organization of knowledge, ease in remembering properties, clearer understanding of relationships, and ease of technology transfer and communication.

Many classification systems are used to classify soils and soil materials. Some are designed to relate soil properties to specific uses and are referred to as “technical classification systems.” Others, termed “natural classification systems,” are structured to categorize all soil properties. The primary classification system used in this book is Soil Taxonomy, a natural classification system. When the term Soil Taxonomy is capitalized and italicized in this book, it refers to the system of classification developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Soil Survey Staff with the support of and contributions from land-grant universities, other federal and state resource agencies participating in the National Cooperative Soil Survey, and colleagues from other countries. It was formally released and published by the USDA in 1975, and a second edition was published in 1999 (Soil Survey Staff 1975, 1999). The system is also updated periodically through the release of revised Keys to Soil Taxonomy. The most recent edition of the Keys was published as the 11th edition (Soil Survey Staff 2010). Soil Taxonomy is now widely used throughout the world. Soil Taxonomy uses quantitative morphological criteria to define kinds of soil and concepts of soil genesis to guide the selection and orderly application of these criteria.

All classification systems are a mirror or state-of-the-art indicator of the available knowledge about the objects classified, assembled in a systematic fashion to facilitate communication with other scientists and, most importantly, with the students who will become the future scientists. The fact that classifications systems change over time is an inevitable result of research in soil science and in other sciences that relate to uses of the soil.

Soil morphology encompasses the color, physical structure, chemical and mineralogical properties of soil material; the spatial association of materials in soil horizons (Figure 1.1); and the temperature and moisture dynamics of soil in situ. The thickness, vertical relationship, number, and three-dimensional ranges and variations of horizons found in the smallest recognizable volume of soil that is classified (called the “pedon,” the word rhymes with “head-on”) are described and recorded by a standard nomenclature outlined in Chapter 2.

Perspective on the Role of Soil Genesis and Classification

It is useful, important, and interesting to consider how the study of soil genesis and classification interacts with other fields of soil science and other scientific disciplines. This is especially true for technical soil classifications derived from scientifically based natural classifications systems like Soil Taxonomy (Buol and Denton 1984). Soil properties are primary reagents in field experimentation. Documentation of soil properties at research sites is essential for the successful transfer of research results to other locations.

Soil genesis and classification studies have made contributions to research design and data acquisition in other fields of soil science, including biogeochemical redistribution of nutrients in ecological systems, ecology of soil microbes and mycorrhizae, and the availability and distribution of plant essential nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen in different types of soils (Runge and McCracken 1984). Soil maps furnish basic inputs to soil conservation planning in the United States and provide information used in equations for predicting soil loss and water pollution potential under various management practices on different soils.

Characterization of soil properties is fundamental to all soil studies. Complete soil characterization for classification purposes requires that all horizons of the soil be analyzed. Many laboratory and greenhouse studies require only characterization of soil material from a few horizons, but practical application of the results obtained from such studies requires verification with field studies. Soil characterization methods draws heavily on methods of soil chemistry, physics, mineralogy, microbiology, and biochemistry. Conversely, methods and results initially obtained in soil characterization and soil genesis studies have been useful in perfecting methods of soil analysis by providing materials representative of all kinds of soil for analysis.

Soil genesis embraces the concept of soil as “a natural entity to be studied as a thing complete in itself” (Cline 1961). This concept has survived the fragmentation of soil science into the subdisciplines of soil chemistry, soil physics, soil microbiology, soil fertility, and soil management by drawing upon and integrating the concepts, theories, and facts of these subfields of soil science into a holistic, integrated, multidisciplinary view of soil as a natural entity. Soil genesis and classification, or pedology, may also be likened to a system of bridges connecting the disciplinary islands of geology, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, climatology, agricultural sciences, economics, anthropology, and archeology. The interdisciplinary nature of this field of soil science gives it added importance in the training of scientists (Abelson 1964). Soil genesis and classification and its allied activities therefore have many interactions with and contributions to fields of science other than the science of soils.

Soil genesis and soil classification have some roots in geology, for they grew out of the study and mapping of rocks. The close ties between geology and soil science stem from the fact that most soils are derived from geologic materials such as granite, limestone, glacial drift, loess, and alluvium. Several of the early pioneer soil scientists were geologists by training. Because differences among soils are due in part to the different landforms they occupy, and because age of the soil is related to the stability of the surface on which they have formed, close ties between soil specialists in genesis and classification and geologists specializing in geomorphology continue to be strong and mutually beneficial.

Soil genesis and classification is seldom concerned with entire geological deposits, but rather deal with the upper portion of the deposit that has been influenced by plant and animal activity and by the intrusion of water and energy from the land surface. Therefore, soil genesis and classification, which deals with the dynamic, biologically active soil system, must also be concerned with biology, especially the subsciences of ecology, microbiology, plant physiology, and botany. Hans Jenny (1980) regarded soil and vegetation as coupled systems and thus an ecosystem. A knowledge and awareness of plant-soil interactions, meteorology, and hydrology are essential for soil scientists interested in soil genesis and classification.

Soil underpins human food production and is a very significant component in our total stock of natural resources. Production economists call on soil scientists for data...