A Handbook of Soil Terminology, Correlation and Classification

Soil classification and terminology are fundamental issues for the clear understanding and communication of the subject. However, while there are many national soil classification systems, these do not directly correlate with each other. This leads to confusion and great difficulty in undertaking comparative scientific research that draws on more than one system and in making sense of international scientific papers using a system that is unfamiliar to the reader. This book aims to clarify this position by describing and comparing different systems and evaluating them in the context of the World Reference Base (WRB) for Soil Resources. The latter was set up to resolve these problems by creating an international 'umbrella' system for soil correlation. All soil scientists should then classify soils using the WRB as well as their national systems. The book is a definitive and essential reference work for all students studying soils as part of life, earth or environmental sciences, as well as professional soil scientists.

Published with International Union of Soil Sciences

Pavel Krasilnikov is a Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and is the Head of the Laboratory of Soil Geography and Ecology, Institute of Biology KarRC RAS, Petrozavodsk, Russia.

Juan-Jose Ibanez Marti is a Senior Researcher at Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificacion, CIDE (CSIC-UV, Valencia, Spain) and also works at E.P.S. Area de Ciencias del Suelo y Quimica Agricola, University of Burgos, Spain.

Richard W. Arnold has taught at University Guelph, Ontario (1963-1966), and Cornell University (1966-1980), and worked at USDA -NRCS (Washington DC) from 1980-2000 as Director of Soil Survey. He is now retired.

Serghei Shoba is the Dean of the Faculty of Soil Sciences of Lomonosov University, the President of Dokuchaev's (Russian) Soil Science Society, and Editor-in-Chief of the journal 'Eurasian Soil Science'.

Additional Contributors: Chapter 9 written together with Dr. P. Schad Chapter 16 with Professor E. Micheli Chapter 26 with Dr. A. Hernandez Jimenez Part III co-written by J. Tabor