The aim of this article is to present a sort of state of the art from a soil classification point of view. How far are soils from their original natural state? A few years ago, the two most important soil classification systems added a classification of anthropogenic soils. Even so, although the concept of anthropogenic soil differs slightly in the two systems, it is easy to recognize these soi...

Historical soil survey paper maps are valuable resources that underpin strategies to support soil protection and promote sustainable land use practices, especially in developing countries where digital soil information is often missing. However, many of the soil maps, in particular those for developing countries, are held in traditional archives that are not easily accessible to potential users...

Although people have always classified soils, it is only since themid 19th century that soil classification emerged as an important topic within soil science. It forced soil scientists to think systematically about soils and its genesis and developed to facilitate communication between soil scientists. It has also been the cause for much debate and confusion but two internationally accepted sys...

Soil degradation and salinization are two of the utmost threat affecting agricultural areas, derived from the increasing use of low quality water and inappropriate cultural practices. The problem of low productivity of saline soils may be ascribed not only to their salt toxicity or damage caused by excess amounts of soluble salts but also arising from the lack of organic matter and available mi...

Nonpoint source (NPS) watershed projects often fail to meet expectations for water quality improvement because of lag time, the time elapsed between adoption of management changes and the detection of measurable improvement in water quality in the target water body. Even when management changes are well-designed and fully implemented, water quality monitoring efforts may not show definitive res...

Soils lie at the interface between the atmosphere and the subsurface and are a key component that control ecosystem services, food production, and many other processes at the Earth's surface. There is a long-established convention for identifying and mapping soils by texture. These readily available, georeferenced soil maps and databases are used widely in environmental sciences. Here, we show ...

The parties are over, the hangovers have receded and, yes, we are into the year 2000. In the December 1999 issue of Greenkeeper International, I considered aspects of research on golf course agronomy through the last century. As we move into the new millennium it is appropriate to review the implications of current research projects and to identify some of the many areas where future work is ne...

This study evaluated the effectiveness of soils with different textures and thickness to treat BOD, N and P eluted from household septic effluent. The assessments were accomplished by leaching undisturbed soil monoliths of 30, 45 and 60 cm thickness and 25 cm in diameter, representing the four different textural groups and hydraulic loadings recommended by the Kentucky Health Department, with d...

In an extensive environmental study, field samples, including soil, water, rice, vegetable, fish, human hair and urine, were collected at an abandoned tungsten mine in Shantou City, southern China. Results showed that arsenic (As) concentration in agricultural soils ranged from 3.5 to 935 mg kg(-1) with the mean value of 129 mg kg(-1). In addition, As concentration reached up to 325 microg L(-1...