『Abstract
Experimental pedology, defined as the use of laboratory and field
experiments to test hypotheses regarding pedogenic processes,
was popularized in the 1950s and 1960s. Since that time there
have been a number of controlled experiments that offer great
promise in elucidating pedogenic processes. In this paper, we
provide examples of controlled experiments that range in scale
from laboratory batch studies (microcosms) to field mesocosms
to whole-watershed manipulations and show how they have elucidated
each of 17 elementary soil-forming processes. The experimental
approach to pedology has many advantages, including the support
of observational evidence, the establishment of causal rather
than simply correlative relations, the linking of basic and applied
pedology, and the enhancement of multidisciplinary research in
studying earth's dynamic systems.
Keywords: Experimental pedology; Dynamic pedology; Soil genesis;
Experimentation; Microcosms; Mesocosms』
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Methods in experimental pedology
2.1. Microcosm experiments
2.2. Reciprocal soil transplants
2.3. Mesocosm experiments
2.4. watershed manipulations
2.5. Dynamic pedology
3. Case studies and elementary soil processes
3.1. Gleization
3.2. Podzolization
3.3. Vertization
3.4. Cryoturbation
3.5. Salinization and desalinization
3.6. Biological enrichment of base cations
3.7. Solonization
3.8. Solodization
3.9. Calcification and decalcification
3.10 Argilluviation
3.11. Andosolization
3.12. Paludization and ripening
3.13. Melanization (humification, braunification)
3.14. Ferrallitization (laterization)
3.15. Base-cation leaching
3.16. Silicification
3.17. Anthrosolization
4. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References