AGRICULTURAL SOILS & CO₂

The soil profiles are part of a collection of soil profiles from around the world that is currently being compiled at the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich. Detailed descriptions of the soil profiles can be found below.

SPECIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our sincere thanks to:

Prof. Dr. Sebastian Dötterl and Dr. Fanny Petibon from the research group Soil Resources at the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich for providing the three agricultural soil profiles free of charge and for their scientific support with the content.

REFERENCES

Plateau profile
STAGNIC LUVISOL

Soil with a thin, dark topsoil over a bleached subsoil horizon, which tongues into a clay-enriched transition horizon
Location: Methau, Germany; on hilltop; 290 m a.s.l.; slightly eroded
Parent material: loess sediments over schist

Slope profile

REGOSOL
Soil with a thin topsoil lying directly on the bedrock. The subsoil has been eroded.

Location: Methau, Germany; on slope; 285 m a.s.l.; heavily eroded
Parent material: loess sediment over schist

Valley profile

STAGNIC COLLUVIC LUVISOL OVER ERODED STAGNIC LUVISOL
Soil made of soil material that has been transported downhill by gravity, water, or wind and deposited there. In the process, it has covered the older underlying soil (colluvium).

Location: Methau, Germany; at foot of slope (depression); 275 m a.s.l.; depositional site
Parent material: loess sediment over schist (not visible)