Category Archives: Terminology

Getting a Feel for Soil Texture

Posted on May 30, 2012 by

One of the most important characteristics of soils is soil texture. Soil, by definition, consists of particles less than 2 mm in diameter. Soil texture is the proportion of sand, silt, and clay particles that are of soil size (2 … Continue reading →

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The Soil Orders – Gelisols

Posted on March 23, 2012 by

This is the first of a series of blog posts where I will describe some of the interesting features of each of the 12 soil orders in Soil Taxonomy – the soil classification system developed for the US by the … Continue reading →

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The Art of Soil Color

Posted on March 7, 2012 by

Soils from around the world differ greatly. One reason for that is color, as evidenced in the header of this website. Colors were first standardized by Professor Albert H. Munsell on a system with three components: hue, value, and chroma. … Continue reading →

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A Spade is a Spade… or Sharp Shooter

Posted on February 29, 2012 by

I’ve been in grad school at NC State for almost 4 straight years now. Ever since I’ve arrived in North Carolina, I’ve thought that the use of the word “sharp shooter” to describe a tile spade (what I’ve always refferred … Continue reading →

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“Soil” vs. “Dirt”

Posted on December 28, 2011 by

As a soil scientist I often hear non-soil scientists refer to soil as “dirt”, or people even ask me if there’s a difference. In my mind there is. The simple difference is this: “dirt is soil where it’s not supposed … Continue reading →

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