Soil Profile Description

Otto Spaargaren
ISRIC – World Soil
Information

Wageningen
The Netherlands
Why soil profile descriptions ?

 In surveys: as typical example of soil

mapping unit or of one of its components

 For research: as baseline record to

illustrate the environmental setting and
relationships between the soil attributes

 For land resource development: as

base for building geo-referenced land
information systems
Guidelines

 FAO Guidelines for

Soil Profile Description.
3rd Edition.

1990 – English
1993 – French
Purpose of the FAO Guidelines

 To enhance standardization and

uniformity of soil profile descriptions, in
order to facilitate cross-references and
comparison between soil descriptions

 To contribute, through the objective

description and recording of soil
properties, both to the understanding of
the land of which the soil forms part, and
to the reliable transfer of technology
Sources for the FAO
Guidelines

 USDA Soil Survey Manual

 Revised Legend of the Soil Map of the

World

 Keys to Soil Taxonomy

 Australian Soil and Land Survey Field

Handbook
Content of the FAO Guidelines

 General information about the soil, both

administratively and environmentally

 Description of the individual soil horizons

 Linkage to computerized information

systems, in particular the FAO-ISRIC Soil
Database (SDB)
General Information Section

 Registration and location

 Soil classification
 Landform and topography
 Land use and vegetation
 Parent material
 Surface characteristics
 Soil-water relationships
General information (1) :
Registration and location

 Profile number
 Soil profile description status
 Date of description
 Author(s)
 Soil unit
 Location
 Elevation
 Map sheet number and grid reference
 Coordinates
General information (2) :
Soil classification

 Soil taxonomic classification

– WRB reference group name
– FAO Legend (1974) and Revised Legend
(1988) Soil Map of the World
– Soil Taxonomy (1999)
– National

 Soil climate
General information (3) :
Landform and topography

 Topography
 Landform
 Land element
 Position
 Slope
 Micro-topography
 Soil-landscape sequential relationships
General information (4) :
Land use and vegetation

 Land use

 Human influence

 Vegetation
General information (5) :
Parent material

 Parent material
– Unconsolidated material
– Rock type

 Effective soil depth

General information (6) :
Surface characteristics

 Rock outcrops
 Surface coarse fragments
 Erosion
 Surface sealing
 Surface cracks
 Other surface characteristics
General information (7) :
Soil-water relationships

 Drainage class
 Internal drainage
 External drainage
 Flooding
 Groundwater
 Moisture conditions of the soil
Soil horizon description
 Horizon designation and dimensions
 Soil colour
 Primary constituents
 Organization of the constituents
 Voids (porosity)
 Concentrations
 Biological activity
 Soil reaction
 Samples
Soil horizon description (1) :
Designation and dimensions

 Horizon symbol – H, O, A, E, B, C and

R master horizon nomenclature, and the
subordinate characteristics within master
horizons and layers

 Horizon boundary – depth, distinctness

and topography
Soil horizon description (2) :

Master horizon designation (1)

Organic horizons:

H or O

H = wet
O = dry
Soil horizon description (3) :

Master horizon designation (2)

Mineral horizons:

A (organic matter)
E (eluviation)
B (illuviation)
C (parent material,
unconsolidated)
Soil horizon description (4) :

Master horizon designation (3)

Mineral horizons:

R (parent rock)
Soil horizon description (5) :

Subordinate characteristics of master

horizons (1):
c Concretions or nodules
f Frozen soil
g Gleying evidenced by mottling
h Accumulation of organic matter
j Jarosite mottling
k Accumulation of carbonates
m Cementation or induration
Soil horizon description (6) :

Subordinate characteristics of master

horizons (2):
n Accumulation of sodium
o Residual accumulation of sesquioxides
p Ploughing or other disturbance
q Accumulation of silica
r Strong reduction
s Illuvial accumulation of sesquioxides
t Accumulation of silicate clay
Soil horizon description (7) :

Subordinate characteristics of master

horizons (3):
v Occurrence of plinthite
w Development of colour or structure
x Fragipan character
y Accumulation of gypsum
z Accumulation of salts more soluble than
gypsum
Soil horizon description (8) :
Soil colour

 Matrix colour – hue, value and chroma,

both dry and moist, according to the
Munsell Soil Color Charts, or the Revised
Standard Soil Color Charts

 Mottling – abundance, size, contrast,

boundary and colour (dry and moist)
Soil horizon description (9) :
Primary constituents

 Texture of the fine earth fraction –

sand, loamy sand, sandy loam, loam, silt
loam, silt, silty clay loam, silty clay, clay
loam, sandy clay loam, sandy clay, clay

 Rock fragments – gravel, stones,

boulders
Soil horizon description (10) :
Organization of soil constituents

 Soil structure – grade, size and type

– Types: single grain, massive, granular,
prismatic, columnar, angular blocky,
subangular blocky, platy, rock structure,
stratified structure

 Consistence – dry, moist and wet

Soil horizon description (11) :
Voids (porosity)

Voids include all space in the soil. They are

described in terms of
– Type
– Size
– Abundance
– Continuity
– Orientation
Soil horizon description (12) :
Concentrations

 Cutanic features – clay, humus,

pressure faces, slickensides, iron
coatings

 Cementation and compaction –

continuity, structure, nature, degree

 Mineral nodules – abundance, kind,

size, shape, hardness, nature, colour
Soil horizon description (13) :
Biological activity

 Roots – abundance and size

 Biological features – abundance and

kind
Soil horizon description (14) :
Soil reaction

 Presence of carbonates – non-

calcareous, slightly calcareous,
moderately calcareous, strongly
calcareous and extremely calcareous
(tested with 10% HCl)

 Field pH – Hellige test, field pH meter,

NaF test for volcanic soils
Soil horizon description (15) :
Samples

Basically, there are two methods of

collecting soil samples:
– Sampling in equal proportions over the whole
horizon (recommended method)

– Sampling in equal proportions within a depth

of 20cm, either from the centre of the
horizon, or at balanced intervals if the
horizon exceeds 50cm thickness
Linkages (1) :
FAO-ISRIC Soil Database (SDB)

 Permits storage and retrieval of large

amounts of field and analytical data

 Provides a flexible coding system to

accommodate local needs

 Can be linked to geographical

information systems (GIS), automated
land evaluation packages, or statistical
programs
Linkages (2) :
FAO-ISRIC Soil Database (SDB)

The following data sets can be stored in

the SDB:
 Field descriptions: coded information
on site and profile characteristics
 Standard soil analytical results:
chemical analyses, soluble salts
 Soil physical analytical results:
infiltration and water retention data
New developments

In 2002, a new “Field Book

for Describing and Sampling
Soils” (Version 2.0) was
issued by the National Soil
Survey Center of the
USDA’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service
New developments

In 2003, a “Students Guide for Soil

Description, Soil Classification and Site
Evaluation” was prepared by R. Jahn, H.-
P. Blume and V.B. Asio, for workshops
and international seminars in Poland and
The Philippines
New developments

In 2003, FAO and CSIC issued “The Multilingual

Soil Profile Database” (SDBm Plus), an
upgraded and expanded
Windows version of the
SDBm software, which
had replaced the DOS-
based version of SDB
The USDA Field Book

 Very comprehensive, with numerous

useful diagrams and illustrations

 Introduces new descriptive elements,

such as “redoximorphic features”, “soil
crusts”, and “odor”

 Provides little linkage to the FAO

Guidelines (e.g. no comparison between
particle size classes of USDA and FAO)
The Student Guide

 Builds strongly on the 1990 Guidelines,

with elements of the “Kartieranleitung”
(Germany, 1994), SOTER (1995), WRB
(1998), and Soil Taxonomy (1999)

 Links observation to interpretation

 Biased towards soil conditions in

temperate regions
SDBm Plus (1)

 Re-designed and re-written as Windows

application

 Multilingual (English, French, Spanish,

German)

 Detailed soil profile characterization

SDBm Plus (2)

 Possibility of monitoring the temporal

variability of analytical, physical and
hydraulic soil properties
 Metadata facility for describing analytical
methods and procedures used
 Linkage between database and land
evaluation/geographical information
systems (LES/GIS)
Conclusions (1)

 There is a need to update the 1990 FAO

Guidelines for Soil Profile Description, in
order to accommodate new knowledge
and needs for recording soil properties
 The new USDA Field Book and the
Student Guide provide good practical
material to be incorporated in a 4th
Edition of the Guidelines, enhancing the
interpretative value
Conclusions (2)

 Special attention should be paid to the

consequences of changes with respect to
the older versions of the Guidelines (see,
for example, the change in textural
boundaries in 1990)
 Care should be taken that presented
methods are valid worldwide, or that
users are cautioned for the limited
validity of methods given
Afterthought

“In view of the high costs of soil survey,

soil profile descriptions should be made
as detailed and comprehensive as
possible, so that they can serve multiple
purposes.”