A NATURAL SYSTEM OF SOIL CLASSIFICATION

Definitions of natural classification are given which emphasize the importance of theory and concept in the construction of natural systems. The proposed system is based on two principles of soil formation. The first principle emphasizes the three-dimensional nature of soil bodies. The second principle, known as the Principle of Developmental Sequences, is concerned with stages of soil development. The many developmental sequences identified by pedologists are correlated by means of a small number of constituents which are lost and gained during soil formation. These constituents, in an order of eluviation/illuviation, are used to rank the properties on which the proposed system is based. Soil horizons are defined according to the ranked properties and the classes of the system are, in turn, defined in terms of the horizons, with the result that the central statement of the system is the Principle of Developmental Sequences.