Editing Pedology

{{Short description|Study of soils in their natural environment}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Calcareous Soil Profile, Seven Sisters Country Park - geograph.org.uk - 1280181.jpg|300px|thumb|Soil Profile on [[Chalk]] at Seven Sisters Country Park, England]]

'''Pedology''' (from Greek: πέδον, ''pedon'', "soil"; and λόγος, ''logos'', "study") is a discipline within [[soil science]] which focuses on understanding and characterizing [[soil formation]], evolution, and the theoretical frameworks for modeling soil bodies, often in the context of the natural environment.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://natres.psu.ac.th/Link/SoilCongress/bdd/symp45/75-t.pdf | title = Soil Preservation and the Future of Pedology | author = Ronald Amundsen | access-date = 2006-06-08 | archive-date = 2018-06-12 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140029/http://natres.psu.ac.th/Link/SoilCongress/bdd/symp45/75-t.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> Pedology is often seen as one of two main branches of soil inquiry, the other being [[edaphology]] which is traditionally more [[agronomically]] oriented and focuses on how soil properties influence plant communities (natural or cultivated). In studying the fundamental phenomenology of soils, e.g. soil formation (aka [[pedogenesis]]), pedologists pay particular attention to observing [[soil morphology]] and the geographic distributions of soils, and the placement of soil bodies into larger temporal and spatial contexts. In so doing, pedologists develop systems of [[soil classification]], soil maps, and theories for characterizing temporal and spatial interrelations among soils. There are a few noteworthy sub-disciplines of pedology; namely pedometrics and soil geomorphology. [[Pedometric mapping|Pedometrics]] focuses on the development of techniques for quantitative characterization of soils, especially for the purposes of mapping soil properties<ref>{{cite journal  | last = Heuvelink  | first = Gerard  | title = The Definition of Pedometrics  | journal = Pedometron  | issue = 15  | publisher = International Working Group on Pedometrics - Provisional Commission on Pedometrics of the [[International Union of Soil Sciences]]  | date = December 2003  | url = http://www.pedometrics.org/pedometron/pedometron15.pdf  | access-date = 2006-11-01  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930191105/http://www.pedometrics.org/pedometron/pedometron15.pdf  | archive-date = 2007-09-30  | url-status = dead  }}</ref> whereas soil [[geomorphology]] studies the interrelationships between geomorphic processes and soil formation.<ref>{{Citation|last=Gerrard|first=John|title=Soil geomorphology — Present dilemmas and future challenges|date=1993|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-444-89971-2.50008-0|work=Geomorphology: the Research Frontier and Beyond|pages=61–84|publisher=Elsevier|doi=10.1016/b978-0-444-89971-2.50008-0|isbn=978-0-444-89971-2|access-date=2020-09-23}}</ref>

==Overview==
[[Soil]] is not only a support for [[vegetation]], but it is also the [[pedosphere]], the locus of numerous interactions between [[climate]] ([[water]], air, [[temperature]]), [[soil life]] (micro-organisms, plants, animals) and its residues,  the [[mineral]] material of the original and added [[Rock (geology)|rock]], and its position in the landscape. During its formation and genesis, the [[soil profile]] slowly deepens and develops characteristic layers, called 'horizons', while a steady state balance is approached.

Soil users (such as [[agronomist]]s) showed initially little concern in the dynamics of soil.  They saw it as medium whose chemical, physical and biological properties were useful for the services of agronomic productivity.<ref>Saltini Antonio, ''Storia delle scienze agrarie'', 4 vols, Bologna 1984-89, {{ISBN|88-206-2412-5}}, {{ISBN|88-206-2413-3}}, {{ISBN|88-206-2414-1}}, {{ISBN|88-206-2415-X}}</ref> On the other hand, pedologists and geologists did not initially focus on the agronomic applications of the soil characteristics (edaphic properties) but upon its relation to the nature and history of landscapes. Today, there is an integration of the two disciplinary approaches as part of landscape and environmental sciences.

Pedologists are now also interested in the practical applications of a good understanding of  [[pedogenesis]] processes (the evolution and functioning of soils), like interpreting its environmental history and predicting consequences of changes in land use, while agronomists understand that the cultivated soil is a complex medium, often resulting from several thousands of years of evolution. They understand that the current balance is fragile and that only a thorough knowledge of its history makes it possible to ensure its [[sustainable development|sustainable]] use.

==Concepts==
Important pedological concepts include:<ref>Buol, Stanley W., F,D. Hole and R.W. McCracken. 1997. Soil Genesis and Classification, 4th ed. Iowa State Univ. Press, Ames {{ISBN|0-8138-2873-2}}</ref><ref>Hole Francis D., J.B. Campbell. 1985. Soil landscape analysis. Totowa Rowman & Allanheld, 214 p. {{ISBN|0-86598-140-X}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bockheim|first1=J.G.|last2=Gennadiyev|first2=A.N.|last3=Hammer|first3=R.D.|last4=Tandarich|first4=J.P.|title=Historical development of key concepts in pedology|journal=Geoderma|date=January 2005|volume=124|issue=1–2|pages=23–36|doi=10.1016/j.geoderma.2004.03.004|bibcode=2005Geode.124...23B|url=http://www.envsci.rutgers.edu/~gimenez/SoilsandWater08/Homeworks/Bockheim.pdf|access-date=2 March 2016|archive-date=17 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517012408/http://www.envsci.rutgers.edu/~gimenez/SoilsandWater08/Homeworks/Bockheim.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Complexity in [[pedogenesis|soil genesis]] is more common than simplicity.
* Soils lie at the interface of [[Earth's atmosphere]], [[biosphere]], [[hydrosphere]] and [[lithosphere]]. Therefore, a thorough understanding of soils requires some knowledge of [[meteorology]], [[climatology]], [[ecology]], [[biology]], [[hydrology]], [[geomorphology]], [[geology]] and many other [[earth sciences]] and [[natural sciences]].
* Contemporary soils carry imprints of pedogenic processes that were active in the past, although in many cases these imprints are difficult to observe or quantify. Thus, knowledge of [[paleoecology]], [[palaeogeography]], [[glacial geology]] and [[paleoclimatology]] is important for the recognition and understanding of soil genesis and constitute a basis for predicting future soil changes.
* Five major, external factors of formation ([[climate]], [[soil life|organisms]], [[topography|relief]], [[parent material]] and [[geologic time scale|time]]), and several smaller, less identifiable ones, drive pedogenic processes and create soil patterns.
* Characteristics of soils and soil landscapes, e.g., the number, sizes, shapes and arrangements of soil bodies, each of which is characterized on the basis of [[soil horizons]], degree of internal homogeneity, [[slope]], [[Aspect (geography)|aspect]], landscape position, age and other properties and relationships, can be observed and measured.
* Distinctive bioclimatic regimes or combinations of pedogenic processes produce distinctive soils. Thus, distinctive, observable [[soil morphology|morphological features]], e.g., [[illuvial]] clay accumulation in B horizons, are produced by certain combinations of pedogenic processes operative over varying periods of time.
* [[Pedogenesis|Pedogenic]] (soil-forming) processes act to both create and destroy order ([[anisotropy]]) within soils; these processes can proceed simultaneously. The resulting [[soil profile]] reflects the balance of these processes, present and past.
* The geological Principle of [[Uniformitarianism (science)|Uniformitarianism]] applies to soils, i.e., pedogenic processes active in soils today have been operating for long periods of time, back to the time of appearance of organisms on the land surface. These processes do, however, have varying degrees of expression and intensity over space and time.
* A succession of different soils may have developed, eroded and/or [[soils retrogression and degradation|regressed]] at any particular site, as soil genetic factors and site factors, e.g., [[vegetation]], [[sedimentation]], [[geomorphology]], change.
* There are very few old soils (in a geological sense) because they can be destroyed or buried by geological events, or modified by shifts in climate by virtue of their vulnerable position at the surface of the earth. Little of the soil continuum dates back beyond the [[Tertiary]] period and most soils and land surfaces are no older than the [[Pleistocene]] Epoch. However, preserved/lithified soils ([[paleosol]]s) are an almost ubiquitous feature in terrestrial (land-based) environments throughout most of geologic time. Since they record evidence of ancient climate change, they present immense utility in understanding climate evolution throughout geologic history.
* Knowledge and understanding of the genesis of a soil is important in its [[soil classification|classification]] and [[soil mapping|mapping]].
* Soil classification systems cannot be based entirely on perceptions of genesis, however, because genetic processes are seldom observed and because pedogenic processes change over time.
* Knowledge of soil genesis is imperative and basic to soil use and management. Human influence on, or adjustment to, the factors and processes of soil formation can be best controlled and planned using knowledge about soil genesis.
* Soils are natural clay factories ([[clay]] includes both [[clay mineral]] structures and particles less than 2&nbsp;μm in diameter). [[Shale]]s worldwide are, to a considerable extent, simply soil clays that have been formed in the [[pedosphere]] and [[eroded]] and deposited in the ocean basins, to become [[lithified]] at a later date.

==Notable pedologists==
* [[Olivier de Serres]]
* [[Vasily V. Dokuchaev]]
* [[Friedrich Albert Fallou]]
* [[Konstantin Glinka|Konstantin D. Glinka]]
* [[Eugene W. Hilgard]]
* [[Francis D. Hole]]
* [[Hans Jenny (pedologist)|Hans Jenny]]
* [[Curtis F. Marbut]]
* [[Bernard Palissy]]

==See also==
* [[Agricultural sciences basic topics]]
* [[List of soil topics]]
* [[Pedogenesis]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline}}

{{Soil science topics}}
{{Physical geography topics}}

[[Category:Pedology| ]]
[[Category:Physical geography]]
[[Category:Soil science]]