Dear Soil, What Is Your Name? - Soil: The Skin of the Planet Earth - page 181

It was similar in the north cool regions, where the ash-like whitish horizon below
a poor A horizon was named podzolic, since in Russian, zola means ash and poda
or pochva means soil. The whole soil was then named Podzol . In a similar way the
Gleysols or Gleys were named since the soil in the horizon below the shallow per-
manent groundwater level was gley -like, in translation from Ukrainian it was glue-
like. Or simple sequence of A/C horizons on sandy parent rock gave rise to Arenosol ,
since Spanish arena is sand when translated.
Many national taxonomic systems keep some of the local names for soil proper-
ties that are transposed into the name of the soil. But in general, they have some
links to the World Reference Base - a system elaborated by FAO, UNESCO, and the
International Union of Soil Sciences. Owing to their adaptation to local regional
situations, national systems provide more details using special terms for specifi c
situations within local environments. The USDA Taxonomic System, or briefl y US
Taxonomy, is based on recent principles of taxonomy with strictly defi ned charac-
teristics of soil genesis and soil profi le descriptions. If the US Taxonomic System is
nationally used, soil scientists have a free hand to combine the taxonomically well-
elaborated units with low-level specifi c features many times not yet described, but
open to use by the manifold taxonomic system.
Even if both taxonomic systems are painstakingly elaborated in detail, the fi nal
classifi cation depends upon the experience of the soil scientist. He is in a similar
situation as the physician, who examines the patient and obtains the results of blood
analysis and other important tests. The doctor's decision about the type of illness
and about the treatment depends not only upon the results of tests but also upon his
experience. The soil scientist specialized in pedology also considers the results of
chemical analyses and soil physical characteristics obtained mainly in the labora-
tory, but the examination of a soil profi le observed within a pit dug into the land-
scape leads to a decisive identifi cation of a particular soil taxon. Hence, two or more
soil scientists may individually assign different taxonomic names to the soil that
they observe in the same pit. Their decision about soil's name depends upon their
practical experience and upon the soil classifi cation system they are using. We shall
describe two internationally dominant systems. The national soil classifi cations go
into more detail, and they are usually based on principles of one of the two interna-
tional systems we describe in the next two chapters. Be they physicians diagnosing
illnesses or soil scientists identifying soil taxons, their success treating patients or
managing soils is somewhat probabilistic and, indeed, never completely guaranteed
for short nor long times into the future.

13.1 World Reference Base (WRB)

WRB is formulated using descriptions of soil properties within individual horizons
composing the soil profi le. Our selection of those diagnostic horizons contributes to
our objective understanding of soil-forming processes. The prototype for our con-
scientious selections can be traced to the pioneering infl uence of Dokuchaev's