Glossary
ABC soil. A soil having an A, a B, and a C horizon.
AC soil. A soil having only an A and a C horizon. Commonly, such soil formed in recent alluvium or on steep, rocky slopes.
Aggregate, soil. Many fine particles held in a single mass or cluster. Natural soil aggregates, such as granules, blocks, or prisms, are called peds. Clods are aggregates produced by tillage or logging.
Alluvium. Material, such as sand, silt, or clay, deposited on land by streams.
Andesite. Dark-colored, fine-grained extrusive rock.
Andic soil properties. A collection of physical and chemical properties given in “Soil Taxonomy” that are the taxonomic criteria for the Andisol order.
Aquic conditions. Current soil wetness characterized by saturation, reduction, and redoximorphic features.
Ash. Volcanic ejecta material less than 2 millimeters in diameter.
Aspect. The direction in which a slope faces.
Available water capacity (available moisture
capacity). The capacity of soils to hold water available for use by most plants. It is commonly defined as the difference between the amount of soil water at field moisture capacity and the amount at wilting point. It is commonly expressed as inches of water per inch of soil. The capacity, in inches, in a 60-inch profile or to a limiting layer is given in the detailed map unit descriptions. An average single number is given for each soil component in a map unit.
Backslope. The position that forms the steepest and generally linear, middle portion of a hillslope. In profile, backslopes are commonly bounded by a convex shoulder above and a concave footslope below.
Badland. Steep or very steep, commonly nonstony, barren land dissected by many intermittent drainage channels. Badland is most common in semiarid and arid regions where streams are entrenched in soft geologic material. Local relief generally ranges from 25 to 500 feet. Runoff potential is very high, and geologic erosion is active.
Basal till. Compact glacial till deposited beneath the ice.
Base slope. A geomorphic component of hills consisting of the concave to linear (perpendicular to the contour) slope that, regardless of the lateral shape, forms an apron or wedge at the bottom of a hillside dominated by colluvium and slope-wash sediments (for example, slope alluvium).
Bedrock. The solid rock that underlies the soil and other unconsolidated material or that is exposed at the surface.
Bench terrace. A raised, level or nearly level strip of earth constructed on or nearly on a contour, supported by a barrier of rocks or similar material, and designed to make the soil suitable for tillage and to prevent accelerated erosion.
Boulders. Rock fragments larger than 2 feet (60 centimeters) in diameter.
Butte. An isolated small mountain or hill with steep or precipitous sides and a top variously flat, rounded, or pointed that may be a residual mass isolated by erosion or an exposed volcanic neck.
Canopy. The leafy crown of trees or shrubs. (See Crown.)
Canyon. A long, deep, narrow, very steep sided valley with high, precipitous walls in an area of high local relief.
Cation-exchange capacity. The total amount of exchangeable cations that can be held by the soil, expressed in terms of milliequivalents per 100 grams of soil at neutrality (pH 7.0) or at some other stated pH value. The term, as applied to soils, is synonymous with base-exchange capacity but is more precise in meaning.
Cinders. Volcanic ejecta material that is more than 2 millimeters in diameter and has specific gravity of 1.0 to 2.0.
Clay. As a soil separate, the mineral soil particles less than 0.002 millimeter in diameter. As a soil textural class, soil material that is 40 percent or more clay, less than 45 percent sand, and less than 40 percent silt.
Clay depletions. Low-chroma zones having a low content of iron, manganese, and clay because of the chemical reduction of iron and manganese and the removal of iron, manganese, and clay. A type of redoximorphic depletion.
Coarse textured soil. Sand or loamy sand.
Cobbly soil material. Material that has 15 to 35 percent, by volume, rounded or partially rounded rock fragments 3 to 10 inches (7.6 to 25 centimeters) in diameter. Very cobbly soil material has 35 to 60 percent of these rock fragments, and extremely cobbly soil material has more than 60 percent.
COLE (coefficient of linear extensibility). See Linear extensibility.
Colluvium. Soil material or rock fragments, or both, moved by creep, slide, or local wash and deposited at the base of steep slopes.
Complex, soil. A map unit of two or more kinds of soil or miscellaneous areas in such an intricate pattern or so small in area that it is not practical to map them separately at the selected scale of mapping. The pattern and proportion of the soils or miscellaneous areas are somewhat similar in all areas.
Conglomerate. A coarse grained, clastic rock composed of rounded or subangular rock fragments more than 2 millimeters in diameter. It commonly has a matrix of sand and finer textured material. Conglomerate is the consolidated equivalent of gravel.
Consistence, soil. Refers to the degree of cohesion and adhesion of soil material and its resistance to deformation when ruptured. Consistence includes resistance of soil material to rupture and to penetration; plasticity, toughness, and stickiness of puddled soil material; and the manner in which the soil material behaves when subject to compression. Terms describing consistence are defined in the “Soil Survey Manual.”
Control section. The part of the soil on which classification is based. The thickness varies among different kinds of soil, but for many it is that part of the soil profile from the surface of the mineral soil to a depth of 40 inches.
Corrosion. Soil-induced electrochemical or chemical action that dissolves or weakens concrete or uncoated steel.
Crown. The upper part of a tree or shrub, including the living branches and their foliage.
Cutbanks cave (in tables). The walls of excavations tend to cave in or slough.
