Agronomy 552
Pedology

Summer 1999
(Session I or II)

Course Instructor

Dr. John C. Sencindiver
Professor of Soil Science
Office: 1100 Agricultural Sciences Building
Telephone: 304-293-6256
FAX: 304-293-2960
E-mail: jsencind@wvu.edu

Course Format

This course will meet for 6 weeks. One of the 6 weeks will consist of a field trip to observe soils in one of the northeastern states. This field trip is sponsored by an informal group of soil survey representatives at the various northeastern experiment stations (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia) and will be held in a different location every two years (odd years). The field trip will cover the laboratory portion of the class.
For the remaining 5 weeks, we will meet for 6 hours each week for lecture and discussion. The amount of time spent in lecture before and after the field trip will be determined when the actual dates of the field trip are known.

Lectures/discussion will be presented by the course instructor during the first week of the course to review the science of pedology. Students will become more involved during the following weeks. Each student will be expected to lead discussion on specific topics related to soils observed in the field or on selected pedologic topics. The subject matter of the selected topics will depend on the training and educational background of the students in class and the soils to be observed on the field trip.

Objectives

1. To develop the concept of pedology as a process-oriented natural science dealing with the systematic alteration of surficial earthy materials.

2. To foster a sense of perspective which sets soils and soil-forming processes within the context of landscapes and processes of landscape evolution.

3. To be able to describe the formation of diagnostic soil horizons.

4. To be able to interpret soil characterization data for evaluating processes of soil development.

Recommended Textbook or Reference

Wilding, L.P., N.E. Smeck and G.F. Hall (editors). 1983. Pedogenesis and Soil Taxonomy. Developments in Soil Science 11A and 11B (2 vols.). Elsevier. Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

This text is not required, but it will be used as the major reference for the course. Readings from this text and other books and journals will be assigned. All books and journals will be available in the WVU library system or in the Agronomy Reference Room, 1099 AGS.

Grading

Grades will be determined as follows:

1. Written summary/outline of discussion topic - 20%

2. Leading discussion - 20%

3. Participation in class discussions - 20%

4. Field trip report - 40%

Lecture and Discussion Topics

Week 1 Concepts of soils and pedology, dynamics and genetic modeling of soil systems,
spatial variability of soils

Week 2 Processes and factors of soil formation, genesis and morphology of epipedons and diagnostic subsurface horizons

Week 3 Discussion of geology, geomorphology and soils of geographic area covered by the field trip

Week 4 Field Trip (Actual week of field trip may vary)

Week 5 Discussion of field trip, selected topics from recent literature

Week 6 Pedologic topics selected by students