Search results for "World Reference Base"

Disambiguating the soils of Mars

2020

Abstract Anticipated human missions to Mars require a methodical understanding of the unconsolidated bulk sediment that mantles its surface, given its role as an accessible resource for water and as a probable substrate for food production. However, classifying martian sediment as soil has been pursued in an ad hoc fashion, despite emerging evidence from in situ missions for current and paleo-pedological processes. Here we find that in situ sediment at Gusev, Meridiani and Gale are consistent with pedogenesis related to comminuted basalts mixing with older phyllosilicates – perhaps of pluvial origin – and sulfates. Furthermore, a notable presence of hydrated amorphous phases indicates signi…

A new simple approach to evaluate pedogenic clay transformation in a Vertic Calcisol

2006

The aim of this study is to characterize the pedogenic clay minerals by using simple approach: Mixing mineralogical and geochemical findings. The fine clay fractions (< 0.1 μm) of a Vertic Cambisol profile were studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and cation exchange capacity (CEC). Qualitative and quantitative mineralogical compositions of the clay mixture were determined. Moreover, chemical equilibria and thermodynamic stabilities of minerals (calcite, gypsum, kaolinite, smectites and illites) were studied using results of ionic activities obtained from total concentration of various aqueous species in water extracts from soil-saturated pastes. XRD ana…

Transfer of hexazinone and glyphosate through undisturbed soil columns in soils under Christmas tree cultivation.

2004

Abstract Field studies monitoring pesticide pollution in the Morvan region (France) have revealed surface water contamination by some herbicides. The purpose of this study was to investigate in greater detail the transport of two herbicides, used in Christmas tree production in the Morvan, under controlled laboratory conditions. Thus, the leaching of hexazinone (3-cyclohexyl-6-dimethyl-amino-1-methyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4 (1H,3H) dione) and glyphosate ( N -(phosphono-methyl-glycine)) through structured soil columns was studied using one loamy sand and two sandy loams from sites currently under Christmas tree cultivation in the Morvan. The three soils were cultivated sandy brunisol [Sound refer…

Soils with Gypsic horizon in southern Sicily, Italy

2005

Proposal for a new diagnostic horizon for WRB Anthrosols

2009

Abstract To investigate man's role in the creation and evolution of soils in areas of large scale farming, and to investigate the main morpho-descriptive aspects of the related soils, a survey was carried out in south eastern Sicily, Italy, where, as common to other regions of the Mediterranean basin, there are wide areas with anthropogenic soils due to large scale farming activity. The complex genesis pattern of these anthropogenic soils, which shows a double sequence of man-made horizons, sideways oriented to the soil surface, does not allow their classification as Technosols, because their composition is not dominated or strongly influenced by artefacts or human-made materials as is the …

Accelerated soil formation due to paddy management on marshlands (Zhejiang Province, China)

2014

Inundation of paddy soils for submerged rice production strongly impacts soil formation. Here we used chronosequences with up to 2000 years of cultivation history to compare soil formation in non-inundated (non-paddy) cropping systems with the formation of soils used for paddy rice production. This approach allowed us to identify the influence of agricultural management at different stages of pedogenesis. Soil samples were taken from two chronosequences derived from uniform parent material in the coastal region of the Zhejiang Province (P.R. China). One chronosequence consisted of paddy soils of different ages (50-2000 years), characterized by a yearly cropping sequence of rice cultivation …

USING WRB TO MAP THE SOIL SYSTEMS OF ITALY

2012

Aim of this work was to test the 2010 version of the WRB soil classification for compilating a map of the soil systems of Italy at 1:500,000 scale. The source of data was the national geodatabase storing information on 1,414 Soil Typological Units (STUs). Though, basically, we followed WRB criteria to prioritize soil qualifiers, however, it was necessary to work out an original methodology in the map legend representation to reproduce the high variability inside each delineation meanwhile avoiding any loss of information. Each map unit may represent a combination of three codominant STUs at the most. Dominant STUs were assessed summing up the occurrence of STUs in the Land Components (LCs) …

Pedodiversity

2013

In Chap. 6, dealing with pedodiversity of Italy, Edoardo A. C. Costantini, Roberto Barbetti, Maria Fantappie` , Giovanni L’Abate, Romina Lorenzetti, and Simona Magini illustrate the distribution of soil classes, mainly by means of maps. Soil regions on hills are the most lithologically and climatically variable environments, and host the greatest soil variability and endemisms. A vast majority of the WRB reference soil groups (25 out of 32), as well as soil orders of Soil Taxonomy (10 out of 12) are represented in the main Italian soil typological units (STUs), but the clear skewness and lognormal distribution of STUs demonstrate the utmost endemic nature of many Italian soils. In particula…

Influence of environmental factors on the spatial distribution and diversity of forest soil in Latvia

2012

This study was carried out to determine the spatial relationships between environmental factors (Quaternary deposits, topographical situation, land cover, forest site types, tree species, soil texture) and soil groups, and their prefix qualifiers (according to the international Food and Agricultural Organization soil classification system World Reference Base for Soil Resources [FAO WRB]). The results show that it is possible to establish relationships between the distribution of environmental factors and soil groups by applying the generalized linear models in data statistical analysis, using the R&#160;2.11.1 software for processing data from 113 sampling plots throughout the forest terri…

Unnamed Soils, Lost Opportunities.

2019

Have you ever read a scientific article about brown bear referred to as “an animal with long, thick brown fur and a shoulder height up to 150 cm” instead of using its scientific name, Ursus arctos? Or one where Oryza sativa is defined as “a plant that may grow to 1.8 m and produce pendulous inflorescences 50 cm long with edible caryopses”? Science employs as much as possible simple, stable, and widely accepted international classification systems for naming beings and things. The best known of such systems is the Linnaean system for naming organisms by two Latin terms, which refer to genus and species. Classifications are used in other fields, such as astronomy, chemistry, metallurgy, physi…