Soil morphology

Physico-chemical processes. The phenomenon of capillarity can ensure the ascending displacement of solutions saturated with salts into upper horizons with further precipitation of the inorganic salts. This effect occurs under various conditions. Under semi-arid or desert climates, sodium-rich solutions (e.g., NaCl, Na CO,) form superficial encrustations and efflorescences. Under tropical climates, when the transition from the humid to dry season occurs the ascension of calcium bicarbonate occurs. Finally, in hydromorphic soils, the capillary ascension of ferrous iron in the upper horizon leads to its oxidation by air and precipitation of ferric oxides as concretions. 

Biological processes. Some annelids (e.g., earthworms) ensure mechanical transport of matter between horizons but most of the time, the biological mass transfer is ensured by the roots of vegetation that take their nutrients in the lower horizons and bring the matter back on the topsoil by means of the litter. 

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Brammer H, Brinkman R. 1977. Surface-water gley soils in Bangladesh environment, landforms and soil morphology. Geoderma 17 19-109. 

Alexander, E.B. Burt, R. (1996) Soil development on moraines of Mendenhall Glader, southeast Alaska. 1. The moraines and soil morphology Geoderma 72 1-17... 

Quantifying soil morphology in tropical environments Methods and application in soil classification. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 64 1423-1433... 

To conclude, sufficient soil morphological, mineralogical (XRD), and physicochemical (DRIFTS) data were acquired on the two samples to be able to determine if they compare or do not compare. The soil from the shoe is therefore most likely sourced from the stony/gravely soil on the riverbank. 

Fitzpatrick R. W., McKenzie, N. J., and Maschmedt, D. (1999). Soil morphological indicators and their importance to soil fertility, in Soil Analysis an Interpretation Manual (K. Peverell, L. A. Sparrow, and D. J. Reuter, Eds.). Melbourne, Australia CSIRO Publishing, 55-69. 

Culminating a long-term international effort, the Soil Survey staff of the Soil Conservation Service (U S. Department of Agriculture) developed a Comprehensive Soil Classification System (CSCS) for world soils (Soil Survey Staff 1975). The CSCS defines soil classes strictly in terms of soil morphology, rather than based on soil genesis. A brief explanation of the 10 soil orders in the CSCS is given in Table 7.4 (see also Bodek et al. 1988). Their temporal relationships are considered in Fig. 7.6. 

Van Breemen, N., and Harmsen, K. (1975). Translocation of iron in acid sulfate soils I. Soil morphology, and the chemistry and mineralogy of iron in a chronosequence of acid sulfate. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 39, 1140-1148. 

Vanderborght, J., Vanclooster, M., Timmerman, A., Seuntjens, P., Mallants, D., Kim, D.J., Jacques, D., Hubrechts, L., Gonzalez, C., Feyen, J., Diels, J., and Deckers, J. Overview of inert tracer experiment in key belgian soil types relation between transport, and soil morphological and hydraulic properties. Water Resources Research 37[12], 2873-2888. 2001. 

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