Chapter 3 Soil Classification PDF

SOILS210 Introduction to soils CHAP T ER 3 – SO I L CL ASSI F I CATIO N Zubair Ahmed, PhD Keyano College Photo by Marie-France Jones. Lecture O...

SOILS210 Introduction to soils CHAP T ER 3 – SO I L CL ASSI F I CATIO N Zubair Ahmed, PhD Keyano College Photo by Marie-France Jones. Lecture Outline Pedon & Polypedon Soil Taxonomy 2  → Define soil and pedon. → Describe the basic characteristics of each soil order. Lesson → List the soil order and great groups Objectives for each soil type. 3  Soil Canadian System of Soil Classification defines: “the naturally occurring, unconsolidated mineral of organic material at least 10 cm thick that occurs at the earths surface and is capable of supporting plant growth.” Photo by Marie-France Jones. 4 Pedon & Polypedon The smallest sampling unit that displays the full range of properties characteristic of a particular soil. Polypedon Pedon 5 Figure 3.2 Like individual people, each soil is different. However, soil properties (thickness of horizons, colors, textures, etc.) vary more or less gradually across a landscape. Therefore, soils change gradually from one individual into another, despite the fact that soil maps represent soil boundaries as definite lines. Similarly, two different colors such as green and yellow may be rather arbitrarily defined on the light spectrum Source: Group photo of the U.S. national championship soil judging team, courtesy of Karen Vaughan, California Polytechnic State University; other photos courtesy of Ray R. Weil Copyright © 2019, 2010, 2004 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Soil Individuals Factors: Processes: Soil Individuals: Parent material Transformations Polypedon Translocations Pedon Climate Additions Biota Losses Topography Time 7 CATEGORIES & NOMENCLATURE There are five hierarchical categories of classification in Soil Taxonomy: → Order, the highest/broadest category → Great group → Subgroup → Family → Series The lower categories fit within the higher categories. Thus, each order has several suborders, each suborder has several great groups, and so forth … 8 Figure 3.6 The categories of Soil Taxonomy and approximate number of units in each category Copyright © 2019, 2010, 2004 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved  Soil Classification H Ah Organic Order Brunisolic Order C1 Found in Regosolic Order Fort McMurray Soils in Canada Luvisolic Order Gleysolic Order C2 Podzolic Order Chernozemic Order Cryosolic Order Solonetzic Order Vertisolic Order C3 https://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/projects/101 The Canadian System of Soil Classification, 3rd edition 11 Organic Climate All over Canada (25% of world organic soils are in Canada), in boreal and temperate regions of subhumid to perhumid climate Vegetation Trees (black spruce, tamarack, willow), sedges, bryophytes (brown and feather moss, Sphagnum) Extend & Topography Largely in eastern Canada (Canadian shield), also many in western Canada (between Prairies and Canadian shield) Other conditions → Wetlands: In depressions, where water collects (terrestrialization, paludification), or where groundwater level is too high, in contact with soil → Uplands: Transition zones between (boreal) forest and peatlands 12 Field Handbook for the Soils of Western Canada Dan Pennock 13 Organic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGIMTwxuei4 14 Organic Types of Organic Soils: → Wetland Organic soils (Peat ) → Upland Organic soils Peat Diagnostic horizons: O → Surface > 60 cm if Of (fibric), or > 10 cm if bedrock < 60 cm → Surface > 40 cm if Om (mesic) or Oh (humic), or > 10 cm if bedrock < 60 cm → Organic matter > 30%, i.e. organic C > 17% → Mineral layers (of total depth < 40 cm) may exist between organic layers 15 Organic Von Post Decomposition → Of: rubbed fiber > 40%, 1 – 4 Von Post (decomposition) → Om: rubbed fiber between 10% and 40%, 5 – 6 Von Post → Oh: rubbed fiber < 10%, 7 – 8 Von Post Note: fiber rub test & water squeeze test 16 Organic Von Post Decomposition Scale 17  Organic Von Post Decomposition Scale Fibric Mesic Sapric 18 Organic Tiers (full control section) → Surface Tier: 0 – 40 cm → Middle Tier: 40 – 120 cm → Bottom Tier: 120 – 160 cm Middle Tier (Of, Om, Oh) Determines the Great groups if no mineral soil or rock contact within the top 160 cm. Surface & Middle Tiers (Of, Om, Oh) determine the Great groups if mineral soil or rock contact within the top 160 cm. 19 Organic Great Groups → Fibrisols: Of prevailing in Middle Tier and/or Surface Tier → Mesosols: Om prevailing in Middle Tier and/or Surface Tier → Humisols: Oh prevailing in Middle Tier and/or Surface Tier 20  Organic (Peat) Subgroup: Typic Fibrisol Typic Mesisol Typic Humisol Humic Fibrisol Limnic Mesisol Cumulic Mesisol Terric Mesisol Hydric Fibrisol 21 Organic (Upland Organic) Upland Organic Diagnostic horizons: L F H → Surface > 40 cm folic deposits. Or > 10 cm if rock < 40 cm Great groups: → Folisol (L F H) 22 Recap! What are the four different types of organic soils? - Fibrisol - Mesisol - Humisol - Folisol What are the two methods of determining organic soils in the field? 23  H Ah Regosol Ah C1 C1 Weakly developed soils. ◦ Youthfulness of the material (recent alluvium) ◦ Nature of the material C2 C2 ◦ Instability of the material (colluvium subject to movement) ◦ Climate Defined by Ah followed by C horizons. C3 C3 24 Regosol Climate Wide range of climatic conditions Vegetation Wide range of plants Extend & Topography Along rivers (recent alluvium) or downslopes (colluvium) Other conditions - “Young”, or highly weathering-resistant parent material (quartz) - Rapidly to imperfectly drained sites 25 Field Handbook for the Soils of Western Canada Dan Pennock 26 Regosol Diagnostic horizons: - LFH or O, Ah and C - NOT any B horizons or < 5 cm - Not enough gleying (though may have some) - No cryoturbation & permafrost - No thick organic deposits Great Groups: → Regosol (Fig. 23) → Humic Regosol soilsofcanada.ca Dune. Prairie 27 Regosol Classification Order Regosol Humic Great Group Regosol Regosol Orthic Orthic Subgroup Cumulic Cumulic Gleyed Gleyed Gleyed Gleyed Cumulic Cumulic Regosol Regosolic Order Regosol Humic Regosol Ah or dark colored Ap < 10 cm > 10 cm Bm Absent of < 5cm 29 Regosol Gleyed Orthic Cumulic Orthic Cumulic Humic Humic Regosol Regosol 30 Regosol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwCKOlVyqvM 31 Brunisol Diagnostic horizons: - Bm, Ae, also Btj, Bfj, Bt < 10 cm - Oxidation, hydrolysis, solution of Fe, Al => Bm - Bm is often reddish / brownish - Bm may also be grey, brown, dark, red Great Groups: → Melanic Brunisol → Eutric Brunisol → Sombric Brunisol → Dystric Brunisol 32 Brunisol Melanic (Fig. 4), Eutric (Fig. 5), Dystric (Fig. 6) Brunisols 33 Brunisol Classification pH < 5.5 pH > Ah> Sombric Melanic 10 cm 10 cm, with boundaries above 50 cm - A horizon usually not gleyed - Ae may be gleyed if thick and deep (> 20 cm) - Mottling is an indication of periodic or sustained reducing conditions, e.g. waterlogging, in the past or present - Colors vary, usually dull, greyish-greenish-blueish, but could also appear in reddish-brownish Great Groups: → Luvic Gleysol → Humic Gleysol → Gleysol 42 Gleysol Humic Gleysol (Fig. 12) and Gleysols (Fig. 13 & 14) 43 Gleysol Gleysolic Order Luvic Gleysol Humic Gleysol Gleysol Usually an Ah horizon at least No Ah or A horizon Ahe or Aeg 10 cm thick Ah < 10 cm B horizon Btg horizon not Bt no Bt 44 Gleysol Classification Gleysol Humic Luvic Orthic Orthic Fragic Orthic Gleysol Fera Fera Humic Fera Rego Rego Solonetzic Solonetzic Solonetzic Vertic Vertic Vertic Gleysol Mottle Expression Goethite Seed High Water Table (Spring) Mottle Accumulation (1000s of times continues today) Mottle Current Water Expression Table 3 Major Zones in a Hydrological Profile Zone I: Surface zone, High aerobic, Zone high chroma Zone II: O2 Content Middle zone water table fluctuations Zone alternating Redox conditions, maybe perched water table, zone of mottling and gley Zone III: Very low below water table often groundwater discharge zone Zone mainly gleyed pH little mottling Find the 3 Zones http://www.britannica.com/ Yakov Kuzyakov Gleysol Orthic Humic Fera Rego Orthic Fero Rego Humic Humic Humic Luvic Luvic 49 Podzol Characteristics The diagnostic Horizon: Podzolic Bh, Bhf, Bf >10 cm thick Illuvial horizon (Ae above) Accumulation of amorphous (unclassifiable) products: Humified organic matter Aluminum and Iron (soluble weathering products) Source: N. Catto- Podzol Characteristics Moist, crushed color of BLACK / hue of 7.5 YR or 10YR Darker in the the upper boundary Becomes yellower with depth Brown to black coatings on some mineral grains, or brown to black micro-aggregates Texture coarser than clay A silty feel when rubbed wet No Bt or Bt below 50 cm in the profile Podzol Other Characteristics Well to imperfectly drained Cool to cold per-humid climate Generally found in ecozones with PPT > 700 mm Acid parent material of coarse texture (low %BS) Have LFH or O layers Conifers, mixed forests, heath Often have cemented layers - Duric, Ortstein, Placic 52 Podzol Great Group Classification Humic Ferro-Humic Humo-Ferric B Horizon Bh ≥ 10 cm Bhf ≥ 10 cm Bf or Bhf + Bf Low High Low-Med Organic C (>1%) (>5%) (0.5-5%) Iron Low High High (Pyrophosphate Fe) (0.6%) (>0.4%)  Orthic Ortstein Humic Placic Duric Fragic Orthic Podzol Ortstein Gleyed Placic Classification Ferro- Duric Humic Podzol Fragic Luvisolic Sombric Gleyed Gleyed Orthic Ortstein Gleyed Placic Humo- Duric Ferric Fragic Luvisolic Sombric Gleyed Gleyed 54 Podzol 55 Field Handbook for the Soils of Western Canada Dan Pennock 56 Podzol Climate Cool to very cold, typically humid to perhumid, but may be subhumid too Vegetation Forest communities Extend & Topography Widely in Canada Other conditions Coarse to medium textured, drained sites 57 Luvisol Characteristics Diagnostic horizon - Bt: Illuvial horizon enriched in phyllosilicate clay Usually have eluviated horizon above Ae – eluviated (loss of clay) Bt – illuviated (enriched, especially in fine clay) Sandy PGM Lacustrine Ae 15% clay > 40% clay Bt +3%(enriched) +8% Luvisol Characteristics Diagnostic horizon: Clay skins over 1% of area, Bt ≥ 5 cm thick Moderate prismatic macrostructure, blocky mesostructure Luvisol Characteristics Usually calcareous parent material Solum of relatively high base status May have non-Chernozemic Ah Usually have LFH Soil Moisture: humid to perhumid Gleyed Gray Luvisol Mixedwood forest, Cynthia, AB Luvisol 61 Luvisol Classification Orthic Dark Gleyed Brunisolic Gleyed Podzolic Gleyed Gray Solonetzic Gleyed Fragic Gleyed Vertic Gleyed Luvisol Gleyed Orthic Brunisolic Gleyed Gray Podzolic Gleyed Brown Gleyed Vertic Gleyed Luvisol 63 Field Handbook for the Soils of Western Canada Dan Pennock 64 Luvisol Climate Subhumid to humid, mild to very cold Vegetation Forest vegetation Extend & Topography - From southern Ontario to the zone of permafrost and from Newfoundland to British Columbia - Largely in central to northern Interior Plains Other conditions Well to imperfectly drained sites 65 Recap! If you had a soil that was found under a white pine stand, with very little undergrowth, had a horizon enriched with Fe/Al and had 900 mm of annual precipitation, what soil order would you expect to find? What are some characteristics of a Gleysolic soil? 66 Chernozem LF Diagnostic horizons: - Thick & dark Ah (> 10 cm), Ah - High base saturation (> 80%) - C:N < 17 (OM of good quality) - Hich C content: 1-17% (~30% OM) - May have Ae, Bm or Bt horizons Bm Great Groups: → Brown Chernozem → Dark Brown Chernozem Cca → Black Chernozem → Dark Gray Chernozem 67 esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu  Brown Orthic Chernozem Chernozem Dark Brown Rego Gleyed Classification Black Calcareous Gleyed Dark Grey Eluviated* Gleyed* Solonetzic Gleyed Vertic Gleyed Gleyed Subgroups are the same across all 4 great groups except those with *. Eluviated and gleyed eluviated only occur in the Dark Grey Great group. 68 Chernozem Classification Brown Dark Brown Black Dark Gray Chernozem Chernozem Chernozem Chernozem Ah or Ap Horizon Present Present Present Present Color value (dry) 4.5-5.5 3.5-4.5 < 3.5 3.5-4.5 Usually ≤ 1.5 Chroma (dry) Usually >1.5 Usually 1.5 Usually ≤ 1.5 Subarid to Climate Semiarid Subhumid Subhumid Semiarid 69 Chernozem 70 Field Handbook for the Soils of Western Canada Dan Pennock 71 Chernozem Climate Cool, subarid to subhumid, mean annual soil T ≥ 0oC Vegetation Xerophytic & mesophytic grasses and forbs of grasslands and grassland – forest communities Extend & Topography Interior Plains of Western Canada Other conditions Well to imperfectly drained sites 72 Chernozem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfTudvFdAUY 73  Cryosol Characteristics Permafrost present within 1-2 meters of surface. → 1 meter if undisturbed. → 2 meters if affected by cryoturbation. → Designation of permafrost = “y” suffix. → Designation of cryoturbation = “z” suffix. Mean annual temperature ≤0°C. https://www.uidaho.edu/cals/soil-orders/gelisols  http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu Cryosol Diagnostic features: permafrost Great Groups: → Turbic Cyosolsol (Fig. 9) →Static Cryosol (Fig. 10) →Organic Cryosil (Fig. 11) 75  Great Groups Subgroups Orthic Eutric Brunisolic Histic Orthic Turbic Cryosol Dystric Brunisolic Gleysolic Histic Classification Regosolic Histic Orthic Eutric Brunisolic Histic Cryosol Orthic Static Dystric Brunisolic Luvisolic Histic Gleysolic Regosolic Histic Fibric Terric Mesic Terric Organic Humic Terric Glacic 76  Cryosol Great Group Classification Turbic Static Organic Soil Mineral Mineral Organic Marked, usually Cryoturbation Non None patterned ground Within 2 m of Within 1 m of Within 1 m of Permafrost surface surface surface 77 Cryosol 78 Field Handbook for the Soils of Western Canada Dan Pennock 79 Cryosol Climate Northern third of Canada with permafrost Vegetation Northern boreal forest, forest-tundra transitions, tundra Extend & Topography Predominant soils north of tree line Other conditions Over mineral and organic deposits, where permafrost extends down to 1-2 m 80  http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu Vertisol Diagnostic horizons: - Both Slickenside and Vertic horizons - Vertic from Argilliturbation with wetting/drying => swelling/shrinking cycles - Severe shrinking & cracking (dry) and swelling (wet) - Heavy-textured materials (> 60% clay) - Clay of > 50% smectite and/or montmorillonite - May have chernozemic-like A horizon (hard), gleying Great Groups: → Vertisol → Humic Vertisol 81  https://www.uidaho.edu/cals/soil-orders/vertisols Slickensides A Major Feature Slickensides are polished, grooved surfaces that occur along shear planes, resulting from the shrink- swell action of smectite clays. They form along the internal shear planes as soil aggregates move past one another in response to volume changes. Anderson (2010) Vertisol Humic Vertisol (Fig. 26) and Vertisol (Fig. 27) 83  Vertisol Great Group Classification Vertisol Humic Vertisol Color value of A horizon ≥ 3.5 (dr) < 3.5 (dry) Chroma of A Usually > 1.5 (dry) Usually ≤ 1.5 (dry) Not easily distinguishable Easily distinguishable A horizon from rest of solum from rest of solum Ah < 10 thick ≥ 10 cm thick 84  Great Groups Subgroups Orthic Vertisol Gleyed Vertisol Classification Gleysolic Vertisol Orthic Humic Gleyed Gleysolic 85 Vertisol 86 Field Handbook for the Soils of Western Canada Dan Pennock 87 Vertisol Climate Cool, subarid to subhumid Vegetation Grassland communities Extend & Topography Mainly Interior Plains of western Canada Other conditions Severe soil disruption caused by shrinking and swelling. 88 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cARI4-ltRtw 89  Solonetz Diagnostic horizons: Solonetzic B (Bn or Bnt) - Hard to extremely hard when dry - Swelling and sticky when wet - Saline parent materials (salts high in Na), i.e. low Ca : Na ratio - neutral to acidic A (solodization, common case) - alkaline A (early stage of solonetzic development) Great Groups: → Solonetz → Solodized Solonetz → Solod → Vertic Solonetz sites.google.com/site/soilpanoramas/australia/inverleigh-west 90 Solonetz Solodized Solonetz (Fig. 24) and Solod (Fig. 25). 91 Solonetz Great Group Classification Solodized Solonetz Solod Vertic Solonetz Solonetz No continuous Ae Ae ≥ 2 cm Ae ≥ 2 cm Ae ≥ 2 cm thick Horizon thick thick Any features of Distinct AB or Solonetz, Solodized Intact, Solonetz, or Solod BA B Horizon columnar (disintegrating Bnt or Bn Bnt) Vertic Slickenside Features 92  Great Brown Gleyed Groups Dark Brown Gleyed Solonetz Black Gleyed Alkaline Subgroups Brown Gleyed Solonetz Dark Brown Gleyed Classification Solodized Solonetz Black Gleyed Dark Gray Gleyed Solonetz Gray Gleyed Brown Gleyed Dark Brown Gleyed Solod Black Gleyed Dark Gray Gleyed Gray Gleyed Brown Gleyed Vertic Dark Brown Gleyed Solonetz Black Gleyed 93 Solonetz 94 Field Handbook for the Soils of Western Canada Dan Pennock 95 Subgroup Classification Solodized Solonetz and Solod Based on the color of the A horizon, follows same scheme as for chernozems Gray Dark Gray Black Dark Brown Brown Gleyed variants Solonetz Climate Semiarid to subhumid Vegetation Mainly grasses and forbs, rarely trees (usually after solodization) Extend & Topography Interior Plains, in association with Chernozems and to lesser extent with Luvisols and Gleysols Other conditions Uniformly salinized sites, with deflocculation of Na –saturated colloids 97 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqKqNhrF_uI 98 Anthroposol Soils that have been greatly modified by human activity. Mine spoils. 99 Anthroposol Soils from Gateway Hill 2020 with ENVS 4406 – Soil Genesis Course. Soils in berms found high levels of bituminous soil. 100 Anthroposol Disturbed Layers (D horizon) - Soil modified on site, translocated, or added onto natural soil. - Can use normal suffixes to describe natural genesis processes. Additional suffixes: - “w” for waste - “q” for hydrocarbons - “o” for organic materials 101 Anthroposol Great Group Classification Technic Spolic Carbic Anthropogenic ≥ 10% by volume < 10% by volume < 10 % by volume Materials Organic Carbon Any < 17% ≥ 17% 102  Egeo Albo Anthroposol Technic Fusco Anthroposol Classification Spolic Carbo Carbic Techno Spolo Terro Aquo Cryo 103 Anthroposol Example Profile Fusco Spolic Anthroposol Reclaimed area in Athabasca Oil Sands, Northwest of Fort McMurray. 104 Go to www.kahoot.it or download the kahoot! app 105