Soil Sequences Atlas III, 218 s.

Abstract

Soil Sequences Atlas III is a continuation of two earlier volumes published in 2014 and 2018. As in the previous studies, the variability of soil cover is presented in the form of soil sequences characteristic of particular types of landscapes. Each of the chapters contains a general description of the environment (lithology, topography, land use, climate), a set of soil data (soil profile photo, description of morphology, laboratory data) and their interpretation in terms of the pedogenesis and systematic position according to the WRB (2015) system. The “catenary approach” (expressed in the form of individual figures) helps to better understand the relationships between individual components of the environment and soils. Chapters are arranged roughly according to the main soil-forming process in sequences and referring to the World Reference Base for Soil Resources except for Technosols, which as “unnatural” soils are placed at the end of the book. At the beginning of the book, two landscapes dominated by Gleysols and gleyic processes were described – tidal flats in Germany and the flood plain of the Vistula River in Poland. Next, the mountain areas with Andosols (Slovakia), Lithosols and Podzols (Poland) were presented. The issue of the environment with the dominant podsolization process was continued in the subsequent chapters from Lithuania and Russia. Chapters 8 and 9 are related to Hungarian and Ukrainian soils with a pronounced accumulation of humus in epipedons (Chernozems, Umbrisols, Phaeozems). The book ends with a section on issues related to clay-illuviated (Luvisols), coarse textured (Arenosols) and technogenic (Technosols) soils in Poland, Estonia and Czechia. Sixteen Reference Soil Groups are featured, and represented by 61 soil profiles in total. One of the objectives of the Soil Sequences Atlas is to explain the relationships (predictable to some extent) between the landscape and soil cover. The collected data are intended to be a useful educational tool in the teaching of soil science, supporting the understanding of the causes of soil cover variability, and also as a WRB classification guideline. They are intended to be useful not only to students but also practitioners in agriculture, forestry, environmental protection and landscape planning. The Atlas was developed as part of the EU Erasmus+ FACES project (Freely Accessible Central European Soil).