Pedocal

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Marbut's Pedocal/Pedalfer boundary lies near the 98 meridian and 30 inches annual precipitation. (after Marbut, 1935)

Pedocal is a subdivision of the zonal soil order. It is a class of soil which forms in semiarid and arid regions. It is rich in calcium carbonate and has low soil organic matter. With only a thin A horizon (topsoil), and intermittent precipitation calcite, other soluble minerals ordinarily removed by water may build up in the B horizon (subsoil) forming a cemented layer known as caliche. It is not used in the current United States system of soil classification but the term commonly shows up in college geology texts.

[edit] See also

• Pedalfer
• USDA soil taxonomy

[edit] References

Baldwin, M.; C.E. Kellogg, and J. Thorp (1938). "Soil Classification", Soils and Men: Yearbook of Agriculture 1938. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., p. 979-1001. 

Brevik, Eric C. (November 2002). "Soil Classification in Geology Textbooks". Journal of Geoscience Education 50 (5): 539–543. 

Marshak, Stephen (2004). Essentials of Geology, (First Edition), W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.. ISBN 0-393-92411-4.