| Abstract: | After recent unanticipated occurrences of environmental pollution caused by the time-delayed and sudden release of contaminants previously believed to be held firmly in soils, awareness has increased that the vulnerability of soils to chemical degradation needs to be assessed and mapped. Although some soils appear to be capable of receiving and holding chemical compounds while at the same time retaining their ecological functions, others are readily damaged. Procedures for identifying areas where vulnerable soils occur are presented, with special reference to the minimum soil data sets that would be required in a small scale study at the European level using geographical information systems. These data can readily be compiled, stored and processed with the relational database management system developed for SOTER, The 1:1 million world soil and terrain digital database project of the International Society of Soil Science, which is co-ordinated by the International Soil Reference and Information Centre. the proposed initial soil vulnerability programme would essentially serve to increase awareness about areas prone to chemical soil degradation, and will form the basis for implementing soil pollution assessment programmes at larger scales (1:1 M to 1:250 000). the latter national or regional programmes would include the identification of the major sources of soil pollution, and measurement of the accumulated load and the rate of loading according to uniform and standardized procedures, providing the conceptual basis for developing process based models to assess where particular types of soil degradation are likely to occur. |
