Soil horizons
Amber Anderson
- Match soil horizons with processes occurring within the zone
- Identify horizons given characteristics
- Predict potential management or use challenges based upon given horizon sequence
Horizon overview
Watch the overview video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUt9gAvb_1o
Transition horizons
Sometimes a layer is not clearly one process or another, but rather where two are combining. These are called transitional horizons, and indicated by two capital letters like AB or BA. The first of the two is the more dominant of the two processes. A similar-looking notation but with an added /, like E/B or B/E mean that there are distinct areas of each in the layer rather than a smooth transition.
Subhorizons
Additional lowercase letters are used to further differentiate horizons.
Watch the overview video at: https://youtu.be/XrN68MEAy4M
Numbering
In order to distinguish one horizon from another, numbers at the end indicate multiple of the same zone, split by other differences like structure, redox features, or color.
Numbers at the beginning of the horizon indicate it is part of a different deposit or parent material. Because we might not know how many exist or be able to dig down far enough to find all parent materials, we start numbering from the surface even though the older deposit is on the bottom.
- Horizons are general concepts used to describe the major process(es) happening in the layer
- Not all horizons are found in every soil, sometimes multiple of the same horizon are found in one profile