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Listed below are the
Symposia for each of the Divisions, Commissions and Working Groups available
within Division 1.
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Division 1 - Soils in Space and Time - Paper Submission
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Astropedology: extending soil science to other planets
The quantity of extraterrestrial soil science publications has been
increasing over the last decade. The participation of soil scientists
in the study of extraterrestrial soils appears to have been very
effective. This is evidenced in the works of Navarro in the Atacama
desert (e.g. Navarro-González et al., 2003) and Mahaney et al. (2004)
in Antarctica, both of which allowed better understanding of surficial
processes on Mars. The work on Martian soil mineralogy by Barrón,
Torrent and Greenwood showed the importance of phosphates (Barron and
Torrent, 2000, 2002) and jarosite (Barrón et al., 2006) in oxidation
processes on the surface of Mars. Also there are the interesting
studies of Moutner on the chemistry, mineralogy, and "astroecology" of
extraterrestrial soils. However, most of the publications have appeared
in non-soil journals (e.g., Science, Icarus, Geochimica et Cosmochimica
Acta etc.). Taking into account the importance and large public
interest in this theme, this subject should be brought into the
mainstream of soil science. The theme of the Congress is Soils in a
Changing World, eventually the world will change to the extent some of
us, or more realistically, our descendents will wish to leave it and
set up on other planets. Knowledge of extraterrestrial soil resources
will be essential for this endeavour to be successful. Therefore,
strategically, we propose a Symposium on this exciting new area of soil
science.
The following topics are proposed for discussion during the Symposium:
1) The possibility for extrapolation of mineralogical, chemical, and
biochemical data on soils of extreme desert areas to extraterrestrial
environments.
2) Exotic "soils" formed on non-silicate materials, e.g., ice, solid methane etc.
3) Mapping of extraterrestrial soils using remote sensing data and methodology developed for Tellurian soils.
4) Theoretical bases for extraterrestrial soil studies. Can the
Tellurian-soil Dokuchaev-Jenny paradigm be used extraterrestrially?
5) Cosmogenic materials (meteorites) in soil formation.
Barrón, V., Torrent, J. and Greenwood J. P. 2006 Transformation of
jarosite to hematite in simulated Martian brines. Earth and Planetary
Science Letters 251, Issues 380-385.
Barron, V., Torrent, J., Greenwood, J.P., Blake, R.E., 2004. Can the
phosphate sorption and occlusion properties help to elucidate the
genesis of specular hematite on the Mars surface?, Lunar Planet. Sci.
[CD- ROM], XXXV, abstract 1853.
Mahaney, W. C., Dohm, J. M., Baker, V. R., Newsom, H. E., Malloch, D.,
Hancock, R. G. V., Campbell, I., Sheppard, D., Milner, M. W., 2001,
Morphogenesis of Antarctic paleosols: Martian analogue. Icarus 154,
113-130.
Mautner, M.N., 2002. Planetary bioresources and astroecology: 1.
Planetary microcosm bioassays of Martian and Carbonaceous chondrite
materials: nutrients, electrolyte solutions, and algal and plant
responses. Icarus 158, 72-86.
Navarro-González, R., Rainey, F. A., Molina, P., Bagaley, D. R.,
Hollen, B. J., de la Rosa, J., Small, A. M., Quinn, R. C., Grunthaner,
F. J., Cáceres, L., Gomez-Silva, B., McKay, C. P., 2003. Mars-like
soils in the Atacama Desert, Chile, and the dry limit of microbial
life. Science 302, 1018 – 1021.
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Modelling the direction and rates of soil formation in time and space
How we can predict soil development in a rapidly changing environment
is one of the biggest challenges facing soil science. We expect this
emerging area of soil science to develop rapidly in the near future.
Symposium D1.2 aims to bring together two communities who are
contributing to this development. The first group are the
paleopedologists. The second group are scientists interested in
quantitative modelling of soil development. This symposium should play
a key role in ensuring that these workers are fully aware of each
others' fields, and can develop collaborations and synergies.
Time is the last of Jenny's factors of soil formation, and
identification of the nature of pedogenic processes and quantification
of their rates may enable us to estimate the age of land surfaces and —
in combination with other proxies — to reconstruct landscape history.
Understanding pedogenesis in time, and developing predictive models of
this change is also a pressing practical issue when we consider the
future of soils in the landscape. Climate is the first of Jenny's
Factors of soil formation. Climate change can therefore be expected to
cause long-term change in our soils. For these reasons, it is important
to work continuously on increasing our understanding of pedogenic
processes, their rates, and the ways in which they are influenced by
soil forming factors. It is also necessary that we put our knowledge of
soil-forming processes onto a quantitative, and so a predictive, basis.
Paleopedologists generally use paleosols as archives that mirror past
environmental changes. The understanding of both consequences of
climate change for the direction of soil formation and the rates of
soil forming processes that emerges from the study of paleosols is an
important starting point when we want to predict future changes of soil
formation.
The mechanistic modelling of pedogenesis aims to use understanding of
soil formation to predict soil development quantitatively. There are
two main schools in mechanistic modelling of pedogenesis: the landscape
and the soil profile models. The landscape evolution model mainly comes
from geomorphology, where soil is modelled as a single layer of
regolith, with materials transport in the landscape as a principal
process. The soil profile model from pedology and geochemistry view it
as weathering of bedrock and vertical transport of materials within the
profile. Few models actually link the two of them. We need quantitative
models for soil formation and distribution in the landscape, and this
session will aim to encourage such integration of modelling, and its
grounding in the knowledge of processes emerging from paleopedology.
Symposium D1.2 aims to bring paleopedologists and modellers together.
It shall reveal the current state of knowledge in these fields and
their interface, and will identify those areas where further work needs
to be done if we are better to predict the future development of soils.
This symposium therefore addresses problems central to the interests of Division 1. It will include papers on:
• Soil chronosequence studies aiming to quantify rates of pedogenic processes
• Using the degree of soil development of land surfaces as a tool for landscape history reconstruction
• Soil properties and indices which are suitable to describe the degree of soil development
• Influence of soil forming factors on the rate of pedogenesis
• Modelling the rate of soil weathering and influence on landscape evolution
• Energy of soil formation
• Influence of climate change on pedogenesis
• Evolution of carbon and influence on pedogenesis
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Changes in soil morphology in response to global climate change
Soils are expected to change under a warmer Earth but the types of
modification and the rate of change are difficult to predict since it
is not only temperature but also the amount and distribution of
rainfall. This symposium will explore what soil parameters (i.e.
organic matter content, salinity, erosion, mineral alteration,
crusting) are likely to change at local and regional scales. Soil
morphology and micromorphology can be used to measure these changes. By
studying a suite of soil conditions from natural, little disturbed
sites to sites of recent recovery we are able to glean a picture of
what is likely to happen. This symposium will provide a basis for
updating earlier viewpoints as expressed in books such as Scharpenseel
et al (1990) and Bouwman (1990), which will be 20 years old at the time
of the congress.
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Soil morphology and micromorphology to predict and manage environmental hazards
Many environmental and geologic hazards (landslides, earthquakes,
floods, surface heave/collapse, pollution/contamination of water
resources) can be identified and mitigated through the use of soil
morphology and/or micromorphology. This symposium will explore the soil
morphologic indicators that can be used to identify soil processes that
either cause or exacerbate environmental hazards.
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Global soil spatial information systems and their role in forecasting impacts
This Symposium that would be an update on the status of world soil
geography databases and their role in the forecasting of impacts of
global change. Focus would be on understanding what has been done to
date with projects like SOTER, etc. Are we in a position to "piece"
together regional scale soil databases into a higher resolution global
product? What are the hindrances to development of improved soil
geographic databases globally? This could include discussion of the
globalsoilmap.net (www.globalsoilmap.net) project. With now little
doubt that global warming is occurring, how can soil geographic
databases be used to understanding broad regional and even global
impacts of temperature and precipitation distribution changes? Where
are we missing data that will be critical in forecasting agricultural
impacts, particularly food shortages? How can the soil science
community interested in soil geographic databases work with the climate
science community to build decision- support tools to guide
decision-makers in these areas?
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Soil geography and ecology
This symposium focuses on the relationship between soil geography and
ecology. How can soil geographic databases and resources be used to
better understand ecosystem functioning? Ecosystem services are
increasingly being recognized as critical to the human population on
the planet. How does soil geographic relate to an improved
understanding of ecosystem services and related issues like invasive
species distributions, biodiversity, etc?
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The role of parent material, climate, topography and biota in pedogenesis: ratios and ranges of influence
The goal of this symposium is to concentrate on soil genesis, while at
the same time bringing together specialists in theoretical and
empirical research working both in the general and specific conditions
of parent materials, climate and biota. We still do not know the
influence range of biota on pedogenesis in different climatic and
lithogenic conditions, and vice versa, the pedogenic influence range of
parent materials in different (bio)climatic conditions. Both
qualitative and quantitative approaches to this problem will inform and
enrich the science of pedology.
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Application of geochronological techniques to the study of rates of soil formation and evolution
Quantification of rates of pedogenic processes is a major issue if we
want to be able to predict soil evolution through time. Numerical
constraints on rates of weathering processes are also essential in
predicting the impact of human activities and global climate change on
soil evolution.
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Challenges for soil classification in an era of great global digital information demand
Soil classification systems are devised by humans as a means of
communication and as an attempt to find order to a natural system.
Digital soil maps are built on varying amounts of soil data along with
models used to predict soil properties. Can soil classification help
verify the digital soil information? Or is soil classification useful
or even needed in a digital soil information world? This symposium
examines the challenges that soil classification systems have in a
digital world, and the digital world has challenges with soil
classification systems.
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Soil classification - benefits and constraints to pedology
Soil classification systems are necessary as a means of communication,
as well as a tool for soil mappers to track and compare soils. It seems
that pedology and, soil science in general, have spent tremendous
resources devising, revising, and disseminating soil classification
information. Have we devoted too much time and resources to soil
classification at the expense of other endeavours? Or has soil
classification guided research activities in a positive direction? This
symposium should challenge us to examine our science and continue
moving in a positive direction.
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Quantitative monitoring of soil change
Soil is a living system that responds to a changing environment, and
recent studies have shown how climate change and changes in land-use
are leading to change in the soil. It is essential that information on
our soils is of good quality, is up to date, and that it is collected
in a way that makes best use of our limited resources while ensuring
that critical changes are detected. The science of Pedometrics must
change in response to this demand. No longer can we focus on the
generation of static soil maps and data bases and on designing optimal
static sampling schemes, but rather we must tackle the considerable
statistical and mathematical challenges that are presented by the
spatio-temporal variability of soil.
In this session we will consider the statistical problems of collecting
spatio-temporal information on the soil. We will focus on the problems
of designing appropriate monitoring and sampling schemes, on the use of
information from novel sensing technologies, on statistical methods for
spatio-temporal prediction and on integrating multiple sources of
information on the soil.
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New methodology to model critical processes in changing soil
Traditionally much of our information on the soil has come from
experiments. However, in the face of rapid environmental change, in
particular changes in land-use due to the pressures on the natural
resource base which we expect as a result of current social, economic,
demographic and environmental change, soil scientists need to evaluate
different management strategies for the soil under multiple possible
future scenarios, and to do so quickly. This can only be tackled
through quantitative models of key components of soil-plant-landscape
systems. Quantitative models of soil processes are abundant in many
branches of soil science such as soil physics and soil hydrology, but
not all of these incorporate important recent developments in
mathematics and statistics.
In this session we will consider some generic problems raised in
quantitative modelling of processes in the soil. There are exciting new
developments in the field of modelling which are all pertinent to the
specific problems of soil modelling. In particular we will focus on
data assimilation and Bayesian approaches to the estimation of model
parameters and state variables, and for handling the uncertainty in our
resulting estimates. We will consider the problems of predicting soil
processes at appropriate spatial scales and of error propagation in
process models. The outcomes of the error propagation analyses are
essential to strike the right balance between model complexity and data
availability.
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Impact of aeolian sediments on pedogenesis
This session proposes to investigate how additions of even modest
increments of aeolian sediment (such as loess or volcanic ash) to
underlying sediments or existing soils has influenced the pedogenic
processes that shaped the morphology and characteristics of the modern
soil cover or changed the existing soil beneath. For example, relative
to underlying glacial sediments most fine-grained aeolian sediments
have low bulk density, weatherable minerals and/or high-charge clays,
and readily dispersable clays. Aeolian sediments can thus influence
soil ecosystem properties such as moisture holding capacity, rooting
depth, and carbon storage, and can provide clay or soluble salts for
migration to subsoil horizons, all of which impact soil morphological
expression.
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Genesis and functions of soils and paleosols in limestone environments
Soils of limestone landscapes, being contrastingly different from the
central concepts of zonal soil formation, are a product of interaction
of in situ pedogenesis, limestone erosion and addition of allochtonous
silicate materials. This interaction can result in formation of diverse
soil bodies - from thick red soils with high productivity to shallow
Leptosols with rock outcrops, not suitable for agricultural use. We
invite contributions dealing with the factors and mechanisms
controlling the realization of different models of limestone soil
development under different sets of environmental conditions.
Soil cover of limestone landscapes (karst) produce specific reactions
on environmental change, contemporary and past, natural and
anthropogenic, and develops specific paleosol and pedosediment records,
related to surface and subsurface limestone geoforms. Papers dealing
with relict soil bodies and features in karstic landscapes, including
their correlation with other limestone records (e.g., speleothems) and
existing datasets on regional and global environmental change, are
welcome.
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The WRB ®evolution
The World Reference Base for Soil Resources was established with the
intent of creating a framework through which ongoing soil
classification could be correlated. The final objective was to reach
international agreement on the major soil groups to be recognized at a
global scale, as well as on the criteria and methodology to be applied
for defining and separating them. Much progress has been made in
harmonizing the diagnostic horizons among classification systems,
including Soil Taxonomy. WRB workshops and tours held in many parts of
the world have generated a renewed excitement in soil classification,
and pedology in general, and has been the spring board for further
collaborations. What are the next steps? Where does WRB go from here?
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Architecture of soil structural diversity: From the nano to the landscape scale
The heterogeneous structure of soil is manifest in a diversity of forms
in the continuum from the microscopic to the landscape scale. This
structure is both a consequence of, and a prerequisite for, many
critical processes regulating soil functions.
In this symposium, we seek contributions that explore: i) the
visualization and quantification of soil structure from the pore scale
to the soil profile to catena, ii), linkages between structural
properties and soil functions, including water flow and solute
transport, storage and transformations of reactive chemicals and
organic matter and, and iii) soil as heterogeneous living space for
organisms that contributes to the inherent biodiversity in soil.
A special focus of this symposium is on research leading to
improvements in our understanding of subsurface heterogeneity, the
diversity of soil functions dictated by soil architecture, and the
processes of structure formation and degradation (the latter driven by
physical, chemical and biological agents, including man’s activities,
such as tillage and traffic). This focus is an essential step towards
an integrated predictive modelling of soil systems.
The convenors seek inputs from different branches of soil science. Our
focus is to employ pedological knowledge for modelling real-world
hydrological processes and transport in soils as suggested by the
approach of hydropedology.
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Digital soil assessment
This symposium focuses on Digital Soil Assessment which is the process
beyond Digital Soil Mapping (DSM). Once the soil map and the associated
accuracy have been produced, these serve as inputs for modelling soil
processes (threats to soil, soil functions, soil-environment
relationships). The accuracy produced during the DSM process should
also be used in the soil-process modelling in order to obtain two kinds
of outputs: 1. the spatial distribution of the outputs of modelled soil
process, and 2, the associated accuracy of the prediction.
Contributions to this new area of discourse are welcomed.
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Cold soils in a
changing world and their ecological significance
Cold soils are cryosols with permafrost,
seasonally-frozen ground or soils of oceanic cool climates (isofrigid soil
temperature regime according the US Soil Taxonomy 2006). These soils cover huge
territories, about nearly 25% of the Earth's land surface. They occur in the
high latitudes in both the Northern Hemisphere and Antarctica
as well as in some mountain regions. Cold soils are of global significance
since it is predicted that both Polar Regions
will be affected by a distinct increase in temperature. Global warming will to
lead to the strong degradation of the perennially frozen soils, to the melting
of the ice-rich permafrost regions and to the rapid turnover of the organic
carbon stored in these cold soils. The effects could lead to a major
degradation of associated landscapes, to changes of the water and soil quality
and to the release of large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. These
changes could severely affect living organisms - including human life. The
symposium is focused on these sensitive regions and is an excellent platform to
discuss the newest results on permafrost soil related research and their ecological
importance. It will bring together all necessary disciplines concerning the
understanding of the processes in cold soils of both hemispheres in a changing
world.
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SOIL SENSE: cheap, rapid measurements for sustainable soil solutions
Conventional methods of soil analysis can be slow and expensive and on
occasions the procedures are complex and only qualitative. Proximal
soil sensing (PSS) can provide good quality, quantitative, inexpensive
soil information, e.g. to help address pressing problems such as how to
monitor the effects of climate change on soil or how to improve the
sustainability and efficiency of food production and the production of
renewable vegetable raw materials through the implementation of
precision agriculture. PSS is developing into a vibrant area of
multi-disciplinary research that aims to apply state-of-the-art sensing
technologies to the study of soil processes and spatio-temporal soil
variability. Examples of relevant technologies include penetrometers,
time-domain reflectometry (TDR), ground-penetrating radar (GPR),
electromagnetic induction (EMI), gamma-ray spectrometry, biosensors,
diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) in the ultraviolet, visible,
near-infrared, and mid-infrared portions of the EM spectrum, Raman
spectroscopy, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), inelastic
neutron scattering (INS), micro-seismic and nuclear magnetic resonance
imaging (NMRI). Specific areas of investigation will include sensor
development, signal processing, data fusion, pedometrics, spatial
modelling, and fundamental research into soil-sensor interactions.
Contributions to this new area of discourse are welcomed.
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