Geog 317
Geography of Soils

Spring '06 MWF: 9:10-10 am

We'll look at soils in four ways:

• What are Soils? We’ll look at what soils are made of – their "architecture" of particles and structures, their mineral composition, and their properties that respond to environmental variables of temperature and precipitation. We’ll consider the significance of soil properties for soil use, and the impacts of human activities on these properties.
 
• How do they form? We’ll look at pedogenic processes – erosion, deposition, organic matter decomposition, etc. – through which soils develop over time, and we’ll look at the five major soil-forming factors: parent material, climate, organisms, relief, and time.  Throughout each we will consider how human activities influence these factors.
• Where do we find them (and how are they used)? We’ll use the language of the Soil Taxonomy to categorize soils based on their properties, try to understand why specific soils occur where they do, and identify the typical (agricultural, botanical and other) uses for different soil types.
• Soil Resource Analysis. We’ll look at methods of evaluating soil resources, especially focusing on geographic analysis techniques for modeling soil loss based on soil properties and land-use practices.