Abstract:
The Soil Science Society of Poland has elected technogenic soils to be the Soils of the Year 2020 to
highlight the growing understanding of the functions of human-created or signifi cantly human-transformed
soils in urban and industrial agglomerations, inhabited by the majority of the human population.
Technogenic soils differ greatly in their morphology and physicochemical properties, depending
on the kind/way of human intervention and the anthropogenic parent material. Thus, technogenic
soils may either form highly productive horticular or park habitats, or unproductive or even toxic
sites, which urgently require remediation. This introductory paper presents (a) a history of defi ning
and classifi cation of technogenic soils in Poland, (b) present concept of technogenic soils in the Polish
Soil Classifi cation and crucial diagnostics, and (c) a brief review of the subtypes and varieties of technogenic
soils, including their recognition in formerly published research reports and correlations
with the FAO-WRB classifi cation. The Polish Soil Classifi cation has extended the soil defi nition to allow
classifying soils on buildings and other constructions, and has defi ned artefacts, geomembrane, hard
technogenic layer, thick dumped material and deep soil mixing - new diagnostic properties important
for distinguishing and classifi cation of technogenic soils. The type of Technogenic soils includes seven
principal subtypes, i.e., Ekranosols, Urbisols, Industriosols, Edifi sols, Constructosols, Aggerosols, and
Turbisols, as well as three supplementary subtypes, i.e., humus, gleyed and stagno-gleyed.
