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The Influence of Topography on Soil Profile Character 1
Author(s) -
Norton E. A.,
Smith R. S.
Publication year - 1930
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1930.00021962002200030006x
Subject(s) - citation , character (mathematics) , editor in chief , library science , mathematics , computer science , management , economics , geometry
Soil is recognized as a natural body, the character of which is determined by the material from which it has been developed and the environment to which it has been subjected. Variations in environment, therefore, give rise to variations in soils, since both the direction and rate of reactions responsible for soil development are controlled by environment (~ ~).2 Glinka (~, pages 32-34) expressed the idea, and the view is now generally accepted, that the character of the end-product of soil weathering is a result of environment and that it is affected but little, if at all, by the character of the parent material from which the soil was derived. According to this view, parent material would be excluded as one of the variable factors which influence the character of a mature soil. Maturity, as the term is used in this paper, carries a slightly different meaning from that expressed by Shaw (~ 2) in that it denotes a stage of profile development so advanced that future changes under the same environment will be slow. The environmental factors which govern the conditions under which profile development takes place are drainage, slope of the land surface, organic activity, both vegetative and animal, and the various climatic forces. The purpose of the investigation herein described was to ascertain whether a quantitative relationship exists between slope of the land surface, one of the variable environmental factors of soil development, and certain profile characters in the mature soils of southern Illinois. The profile characters chosen for study were texture, structure, color, consistence, and depth to horizons. If a constant relationship exists between slope and soil characteristics in any given region, and if the relationship be known, such knowledge would be of material aid in the mapping of soils. It shoukt, moreover, be very useful in preliminary scouting in. connection with finding suitable locations for experiment fields and in explaining soils to farmers and others not familiar with profile characteristics, in that slope is an observable feature familiar to all. Greater accuracy and rapidity in differentiating soil profiles could be attained through the use of an additional easily observable feature, such as slope, if it is correlated with profile