Soils Lab

Soil maps are an important tool to use along with topographic maps, geologic maps, and other types of maps, as well as air photos and satellite images that can help with interpretation of the landscape. Variations in soils often reflect variations in the land surface. Clues to the types of landforms, the relief (slope and aspect), the relative ages of the different land surfaces, the types of geomorphic processes that are active or were active in the past, microclimates, variations in vegetation, and sources of parent material, may all be reflected in varying degrees in soils maps.

The object of this exercise is to familiarize you with basic soil characteristics and terminology, as well as the soil information resources available to you.

At each of the sites we visit on our walk around campus, you should take notes about the soils we see. Specifically, write about the following.

1. Physical Characteristics (color, moisture content, texture, particle size, organic matter content, density, depth of various horizons)
2. Parent Material
3. Climate (relevant to weathering)
4. Biology (roots, worms, gophers, land use)
5. Topography (slope on a 1m scale and a 100m scale, landform)
6. Time (how long has this soil been here?)

Also think about and make some notes about how these various factors are related. E.g. does the slope affect the soil type? Does the biology control where the soil forms or does the soil dictate the patterns of ecosystems?

Resources

Nice soil maps (pdf copies below)
Another interface to the soil survey data
Learning about soils
Soil survey methods

• Bulk_Density,_One-Third_Bar
• Drainage_Class
• K_Factor,_Whole_Soil
• Organic_Matter
• Parent_Material_Name
• Physical_Soil_Properties
• RUSLE2_Related_Attributes
• Representative_Slope
• SSUsoilmap
• Saturated_Hydraulic_Conductivity_(Ksat)
• Soil_Map
• pH_(1_to_1_Water)

Acknowledgements

Dolly Friedel wrote some of the introductory text.