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Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)

A New Soil Classification for England and Wales

Author(s): E. M. Bridges
Source: Area, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1974), pp. 29-31
Published by: Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20000804
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A new soil classification for
England and Wales
E. M. Bridges, University College of Swansea

Summary. A new form of soil classification has been adopted by the Soil Survey of
England and Wales. The maps and other publications of this organization contain much
geographical information of interest to those concerned with resource assessment and
management.

Before a soil map can be made, it is necessary to compile a classification within

which the various groups of soils can be accommodated as mappable entities.
The normal form of classification employed by soil surveys can be described
as a general classification in that it attempts to bring as many of the soil
characters as possible into consideration to give what has been described as a
' natural ' classification (Kubiena, 1958). Other soil surveys, devised for specific
purposes, using a limited number of characters can be described as special
classifications (Mulcahy and Humphries, 1967).
Early British soil classifications had their bases in the major soil group
concept which in turn was derived from the association of soils and climatic
zones observed by Russian and American pedologists. Evidence from many soil
surveys has demonstrated that the inter-dependence of soils and climate is
far from perfect, reflecting the importance of the other soil-forming factors.
This has led to a re-examination of the characters of the soil itself as a basis
for classification. Ideally, the basic unit of a soil classification should be a
three-dimensional entity, sufficiently large to reveal soil variability in depth
as well as in the horizontal plane. The pedon has been suggested by American
pedologists (Soil Survey Staff, 1960) but other writers have suggested similar
terms. Muir (1962) suggested the soil area, Knox (1965) the soil landscape unit
and Fitzpatrick (1971) the pedounit. In all cases the use of a basic unit with
area as well as depth enables the pedologist to assemble these units in carto
graphic form suitable for different map scales. Although it is theoretically
desirable to have a three-dimensional unit for soil classification, most classi
fications are in fact of soil profiles, or units of about one cubic metre, the size
of a normal soil inspection pit. The practical reason for this is the amount
and weight of soil which must be excavated to provide an exposure.
An innovation of the American classification (Soil Survey Staff, 1960) was
the diagnostic horizon. This has been adopted by many recent soil classifications
and it has brought greater objectivity into pedology. Before a soil profile can
be classified, it must meet the criteria for certain clearly specified diagnostic
horizons. A limited number of these have been used in the classification adopted
by the Soil Survey of England and Wales for their future publications (Avery,
1973). This classification will bring a more satisfactory grouping of British
soils as well as improving the working relationships with systems developed
recently in the Netherlands, France and Germany as well as the American
and World Map systems. The major groups and groups of the new system
for England and Wales are given in the following table.

29

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30 New soil classificatio;i for- Eglg/and anidWailes

Table 1. Classification of soils in England and Wales (Avery, 1973)

Major Group Group

1 Terrestrial raw soils 1.1 Raw sands

1.2 Raw alluvial soils
1.3 Raw skeletal soils
1.4 Raw earths
1.5 Man-made raw soils

2 Hydric raw soils 2.1 Raw sandy gley soils

2.2 Unripened gley soils

3 Lithomorphic soils 3.1 Rankers

3.2 Sand'-rakers
3.3 Ranker-like alluvial soils
3.4 Rendzinas
3.6 Pararendzinas
3.6 Sand-pararendzinas
3.7 Rendzina-like alluvial soils

4 Pelosols 4.1 Calcareous pelosols

4.2 Non-calcareous peosols
4.3 Argillic pelosols

5 Brown soils 5.1 Brown calcareous earths

5.2 Brown calcareous sands
5.3 Brown calcareous alluvial soils
5.4 Brown earths s.s.
5.5 Brown sands
5.6 Brown alluvial soils
5.7 Argillic brown earths
5.8 Paleo-argillic brown earths

6 Pod'zolic soils 6.1 Brown podzolic soils

6 2 Humic cryptopodzols
6.3 Podzols s.s.
6.4 Gley-pod'zols
6 5 Stagnopodzols

7 Surface-water gley soils 7.1 Stagnogley soils s.s.

(Stagnogley soils s.l.) 7.2 Stagnohumic gley soils

8 Ground-water gley soils 8.1 Alluvial gley soils

8.2 Sandy gley soils
8.2 Sandy gley soils
8.3 Cambic gley soils
8.4 Argillic gley soils
8.5 Humic-alluvial gley soils
8.6 Humic-sandy gley soils
8.7 Humic gley soils s.s.

9 Man-made soils 9.1 Man-made humus soils

9.2 Disturbed soils

10 Peat (Organic) soils 10.1 Raw peat soils

10.2 Earthy peat soils

Of the ten major groups in this classification, some are recognisable immedi
ately whilst others are new or re-organized. Major departures from previous
classifications (Clarke, 1940; Avery, 1956) include the Lithomorphic soils

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New soil classification for England and Wales 31

which brings together soils such as rendzinas and rankers.Pelosols are a group
of clayey soils typically found on calcareous argillaceous materials which
expand and contract markedly with wetting and drying. The brown soils and
the podzols have undergone stricter definition but the controversial brown
podzolic group (Ball, 1966), with podzolic B horizons but lacking bleached
eluvial horizons, have been allocated to the podzol group. Stricter definition.
is apparent also in the two major groups of poorly drained soils, now brought
more closely into line with the European concepts of pseudogley and gley.
The difference here is either the retention of water within the profiles-stag
nogley conditions, or thepresence of a fluctuating,highwatertable. The presence
of man-made soils as a major group reflects historical influences of man in
enriching the surface horizons of plaggen soils. Throughout thewhole system
the texture is an important criterion with separation of clayey soils as pelosols
at major group level and loamy from sandy soils at group level.
At subgroup level the classification distinguishes typical soils as well as
other variations denoted by the adjectival use of the words humic, vertic,
ferric, argillic and gleyic should the diagnostic horizon meet with the necessary
criteria. There are over 100 of these subgroups proposed, so it is impossible
to discuss each individually in this short communication. Within these sub
groups soil series are determined by particle size, presence of texturally
contrasting layers, origin of soil material and mineralogical characteristics. Geo
graphical names of soil series can be retained where appropriate but series
can also be known by specific characters adjectivally attached to the subgroup
name. By this means it is hoped to retain close links with previous work and
to extablish a pedological classification which will enable ready comparison
with systems of classification in use elsewhere.

References
Avery, B. W., 1956. A classification of British Soils. Trans 6th Int. Congr. Soil Sci. 279-85.
Avery, B. W., 1973. Soil classification in the Soil Survey of England andWales. J. Soil Sci.
24, 324-38.
Ball, D. F., 1966. Brown podzolic soils and their status inBritain. J. Soil Sci. 17, 148-58.
Clarke, G. R., 1940. The Study of the Soil in the Field. 3rd ed., Oxford.
Fitzpatrick, E. A., 1971. Pedology. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd.
Knox, E. G., 1965. Soil individuals and soil classification. Proc. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. 29, 79-84.
Kubiena, W. L., 1958. The classification of soils. J. Soil Sci. 9, 9-18.
Muir, J.W., 1962. The general principles of classification with reference to soils. J. Soil Sci.
13, 22-30.
Mulcahy, M. J. and Humphries, A. W., 1967. Soil Classification, Soil Surveys and Land
Use. Soils and Fertil. 30, 1-8.
Soil Survey Staff, 1960. Soil Classification; A Comprehensive System (7th Approximation).
Washington, D.C.: S.C.S., U.S.D.A.

Scotland and oil: a topical bulletin

The Royal Scottish Geographical Society's Teacher's Bulletin No 5 is entitled Scotland
and Oil, and deals comprehensively with the geography of the developing oil industry
in Scotland. The text presents the situation to 31 August 1973, and a ' Stop Press'
summarizes events to the end of November 1973.
It is available price 50p plus lOp postage (40p to members of the RSGS and for
bulk orders) from the Secretary, Royal Scottish Geographical Society, 10 Randolph
Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 7TU.

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