SUBJECT
Title
Soils of the world
Type of instruction
lecture
Level
master
Faculty
Part of degree program
Credits
2
Recommended in
Semesters 2-4
Typically offered in
Autumn/Spring semester
Course description
Pedosphere is an interface between atmosphere and lithosphere. Quality of the mineral and organic phases is an environmental indicator. These properties are essential for several human activities such as agronomy, forestry, environmental analytics, etc… Soils of the World overviews main zonal, intrazonal and athropogenic soils on the basis of WRB regarding correlation between environment and physical and chemical properties.
- Soil classification systems: WRB2006 and WRB2014, US Soil Taxonomy;
- Soils of the high latitudes: Cryosol, Podzol, Histosols;
- Soils of the humid temperate zone: Luvisol, Albeluvisol, Umbrisol; Planosol;
- The grasslands: Phaeozem, Chernozem, Kastanozem;
- The arid and semi-arid areas: Calcisol, Gypsisol Durisol;
- Tropical soils: Acrisol, Alisol, Lixisol, Nitisol, Ferrasol;
- Hydromorphic soils: Gleysols, Solonetz, Solonchak;
- Soils conditioned by parent material;
- Athropogenic soils: Anthrosol, and Technosol
Readings
- White, R. E. Principles and Practice of Soil Science: The Soil as a Naural Resource. Blackwell Publishing. 2006
- Foth, Henry D. Fundamentals of Soil Science. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.1990. World Soil Resources Reports: Major Soils of the World, FAO. 2001.