Title: Soil Survey
Author: Mike Applegarth
Last saved by: Applegarth, Michael
Company: Shippensburg University

Soil Surveys
•	Development
–	Authorized by USDA in 1896; first field investigations completed in 1899
–	Early surveys investigated soils for farming, ranching, forestry; by the 1920s surveys used for industrial, residential, etc. uses
–	In 1930s, aerial photos used in mapping

•	A soil survey:
–	Describes the characteristics of the soils in a given area
–	Classifies soils according to a standard system of classification
–	Plots boundaries on a map
–	Makes predictions about the behavior of soils

Soil series
Group of soils that have horizons similar in arrangement and in differentiating characteristics
Soils that have profiles that are almost alike
Example: Berks Series (loamy-skeletal, mixed, mesic Typic Dystrochrepts)

Map Unit
An area dominated by one major kind of soil or several kinds of soil

Kinds of general Map Units
Soil Association and Complex
Consist of two or more dissimilar components occurring in a regular repeating pattern
Which term to use depends on scale
Complex? Two or more soils too small in size (area) to be mapped separately at scale of mapping 
Morrison-Murrill complex, 3-8% slopes, very stony
Association? Can be mapped separately at scale of mapping; two or more geographically associated soils that are shown as one unit on a map
Berks-Weikert-Bedington association