Interrelationship of Pedologic and Geological Mapping.

Interrelationship of Pedologic and Geological Mapping

A. R. Mermut^1)* and D. H. Yaalon²⁾

1)    University of Saskatchewan, Department of Soil Science, Saskatoon Sask., S7N 5A8, Canada.

*Corresponding author

2)   The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Institute of Earth Sciences, Givat Ram Campus,

       Jerusalem 91904, Israel.

Abstract

Geology as a modern science was evolved much earlier than soil science. Soil survey and mapping have been historically one of the major and early activities in soil science. In the mid to late 1880s, Hilgard wanted the agricultural survey carried out within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), under the direction of Major John Wesley Powell a soldier, geologist, ethnologist, and administrator. Supported by Powell and Hilgard, a bill to conduct agricultural surveys was defeated by congress in 1888. Perhaps a historical golden opportunity was missed at that early stage. A soil survey program in the United States was finally started in 1899 within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Currently, there are new attempts in Europe to use pedological and geological information to develop new agro-geological maps. Geology still plays a very significant role in soil mapping. Many modern methods are now in the development process to evaluate natural resources, including soils using not only geology but other associated information.

Keywords: Geological mapping, soil mapping, Hilgard efforts, landscape classification,

                    agrogeological maps