Working With Soils

A Practical Introduction to Soils in Great Britain

This course covers two days and is targeted at people who want to improve their field soil description and identification skills. It includes introductory presentations, practical sessions on soil description techniques and then field visits to demonstrate a range of soil types and to hone your profile description skills.

You will be given a comprehensive course manual that details description techniques, copies of the Soil Survey Field Manual, and The Fragile Skin: Soil Landscapes f the UK, a X10 hand lens for magnifying soil features and soil recording cards for you to use into the future.

You will leave the course having gained:

1) An understanding of the nature of soils and how they develop,

2) The ability to produce a comprehensive soil profile description including the horizons (topsoil and subsoil layers) and properties of the soil profile according to the nationally recognised Field Manual.

3) An understanding of the structure of the national soil classification.

4) Knowledge of the key diagnostic topsoil and subsoil horizons types that are used to identify different soil classes.

5) Knowledge of key published, unpublished and digital information sources on UK soils.

The course will provide you with the sound foundation you need to progress to becoming a confident field soil practitioner.

LearninG outcomes

1) A better knowledge and understanding of what soil is, how it forms and the processes and factors that drive soil development

2) A better knowledge and understanding of how and why soils vary within the landscape including key diagnostic horizons and soil classes.

3) Knowledge of key information sources and their interpretation for different applications

4) The ability to describe and interpret a soil profile and/or its horizon consistently in the field including the assessment of, as a minimum, organic matter type, soil texture and stoniness, colour, structure, porosity, lime content and water regime.

Course Duration

2 Day course. 

30 April – 1 May (Llysfasi, Wales)

29 – 30 October (Shuttleworth, Bedfordshire)

An Introduction to Soil Classification (hybrid)

This course is held over two days, with the first day on-line and the second in the field. It is aimed  at researchers and others who want to gain a perspective of how their local field experimental sites and their results fit into the current picture of soil variation at UK and, in particular global scales. It includes introductory, technical and practical on-line sessions, followed on day two by a field visit to two contrasting soil profiles where you will apply the classification methods learnt on day one.

It is important that all delegates who wish to attend the course should be well versed in soil profile description , e.g. using the Soil Survey Field Handbook or have attended one of the BSSS ‘Practical Introduction to Soils in Great Britain’ training courses.

Delegates will receive a comprehensive course manual detailing the techniques for classifying soil types using a global classification system, copies of the Soil Survey Field Manual, and The Fragile Skin: Soil Landscapes of the UK, a X10 hand lens for magnifying soil features and soil classification recording cards for your future use.

The course is designed to give delegates:

1. An understanding of the strengths and weakness of soil classification and why it is linked to soil mapping.
2. An understanding of the structure of different classifications used in the UK and why they differ.
3. An understanding of the two systems used at the global level and why the FAO / IUSS World Reference Base (WRB) is most appropriate to correlate soils at the global level.
4. The ability and tools to identify the local WRB soil type in the field.
5. Knowledge of the different abilities of WRB UK soil types to support beneficial soil functions.

It will provide the sound foundation you need to place the information gained from your local field studies or trials in their national and global contexts.

Duration

2 days

2 – 3 April (Bedfordshire)