Instructor's Objectives:

            I view soil as an essential resource, just as many people view coal, oil, uranium, copper, trees and gravel as essential resources. Actually, I am an extremist when it comes to soils. I say soils are one of the ultimate resources like air and water and should be treated with the same concern. Hans Jenny, the famous soil scientist from Berkeley considered soils to be non-renewable. I like to think that different parts or properties are renewable at different rates. Some rates are too slow to be practically managed and others are very rapid. There are no generally available substitutes for soil at this time. From my perspective, it is crucial that this resource be understood and properly managed.


        My main objective in this class is to transfer information and understanding to you which you can use in understanding and managing the soil resource. The most important published resource in the US is the USDA soil survey report. The lectures will provide sufficient information for you to utilize any soil survey report and the soil maps that the report contains. I will introduce you to some of the scientific literature and make you aware of some soil properties that influence the use of soils. I hope to enhance your understanding of where soils fit in questions of environmental quality and our lives.

Major topics to be discussed are:

  1. Sources and quality of soils information

  2. Land capability assessment and classification

  3. Waste disposal on soils

  4. Soil degradation, including physical degradation such as erosion, compaction and shrinking and swelling, and chemical degradation including soil pollution.

  5. Land reclamation.

            You will (I hope) spend considerable time on the Soil Survey exercise so that when you are finished, you will be able to use the soil survey intelligently. By the conclusion of the class, you should have a thorough understanding of the pros and cons of several widely used land capability classification systems. You will understand some of the mechanisms responsible for physical and chemical soil degradation and you will be expected to show that you understand soil erosion mechanisms and conservation practices. You will have a better understanding of the role of soils in waste disposal and on the potential for reclaiming and or creating new soils.