Soil Morphology

a branch of soil science that studies the external characteristics of soils as a reflection of their internal genetic characteristics, regimes, present and past processes, and conditions of formation.

In nature there are varied combinations of morphological soil characteristics on the vertical. (These are used to determine the types of profiles and the position of the particular soil in the classification.) Among the basic morphological characteristics of soils are the color, composition, structure, shape of new formations and inclusions, total thickness of the soils and individual genetic horizons, and nature of transitions between horizons. Detailed analysis of soil morphology is an important method for determining the origin and fertility of soils. It is also the basic method in soil diagnosis when studying the geographical distribution of soils and making soil maps. The vast amount of material collected from morphological investigation of soils, after various types of statistical processing, makes it possible to obtain new data for diagnosing and classifying soils, evaluating them for agricultural use, and studying the structures of the soil mantle.