Activity 5 - Soil and Land Use in Your Community

Use the resources listed below to help you complete this activity.

To learn more about this topic, visit the following web sites:

Classifying Soils

"Soils Photo Gallery" - USDA-NRCS
National Soil Survey Center
This site includes a written description of different soil types and a photograph and United States distribution map for each soil type.

"Keys to Soil Taxonomy" - USDA-NRCS
Online textbook covers a wide range of topics, including which soils scientists classify and how they classify them.

Soil Formation

Soil Compisition and Formation - NOAA Coastal Services Center
Brief summary of soil horizons and the mechanisms that produce them. Click on significant terms to view a definition.

"The Story of Rocks and Soil" - NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Biospheric Sciences Division
This article reviews how soil is formed from the erosion of rocks exposed at the Earth's surface. Click on the terms in red to be linked to a new page which relates to the term.

Soil Horizons

"Soils Photo Gallery" - USDA-NRCS
National Soil Survey Center
This site includes a written description of different soil types and a photograph and United States distribution map for each soil type.

Examination and Description of Soils - USDA-NRCS
Excerpt from the text "Soil Survey Manual". This very detailed review defines the different soil horizons and transitional zones. Site also explains soil horizon nomenclature.

Soil as a Natural Resource

"Soil Quality Information Sheets" - USDA-NRCS
National Soil Survey Center
PDF documents (you must have Adobe Acrobat to view these files), each addressing a different soil resource issue, including erosion, salinization, soil biodiversity, and much more. Each sheet includes text and good color images.

"Urban Soil Quality Information" - NRCS
Three fact sheetts (PDF, need Adobe Acrobat to view) which cover soil erosion and sedimentaion on construction sites, urban soil compaction, and heavy metal soil compaction.

 

Inquiring Further:

To learn more about soils in your community, visit the following web sites:

"Soils Photo Gallery" - USDA-NRCS
National Soil Survey Center
This site includes a written description of different soil types and a photograph and United States distribution map for each soil type.

"State/Soils" - USDA-NRCS
National Soil Survey Center
Explains that each state has a representative soil series and how this is defined. Click on your state to view a written description, photograph, and distribution map for the soils in your state.

"List of Soil Surveys by State" - USDA-NCRS
National Soil Survery Center
Click on your state to be linked to your state's soil office.

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Last updated: May 11, 2010

This project is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation and the AGI Foundation. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation.