United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy (UAEKST)
United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy presents information for keying out the soils of the United Arab Emirates into separate classes and provides a guide to associated laboratory methods. Additionally, it will help the international soil science community to converse about UAE soils, and facilitate comparison to soils of other regions. These linkages allow countries with similar mapping and classification procedures and similar soils to transfer agriculture technology without conducting long-term experiments under similar environmental conditions, especially for Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE).
AUTHORS:
Shabbir A. Shahid has more than 32 years of experience as a soil scientist in Pakistan, the UK, Kuwait, and the UAE. He served as lead soil taxonomist, technical coordinator, and quality assurance expert. He is a prolific author with over 150 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals and books and was a pioneer in soil survey on the Arabian Peninsula.
Mahmoud A. Abdelfattah served as mapping crew leader and deputy technical coordinator for the soil survey of Abu Dhabi Emirate and project manager for the Northern Emirates Soil Survey. He has over 25 years experience in teaching and research participating in numerous international conferences. He has authored over 50 published scientific papers and book chapters.
Michael A. Wilson is a Research Soil Scientist, USDA-NRCS-National Soil Survey Laboratory in Lincoln, Nebraska, He has served in this position for more than 25 years conducting soil genesis research specifically in the area of soil geochemistry and mineralogy. He has contributed to numerous USDA soils-related research projects in both the US and around the world specializing in climate change and soil classification/interpretation.
John A. Kelley is a soil scientist previously with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), United States Department of Agriculture and Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi, UAE. John is a soil survey quality assurance expert and a specialist in soil mapping, soil classification, and correlation of soil survey projects. He has extensive experience in soil survey procedures and documentation including digital soil photography.
Joseph V. Chiaretti is a soil scientist with the USDA and serves on the soil survey standards staff at the NRCS National Soil Survey Center located in Lincoln, NE. He is responsible for developing and maintaining soil survey division handbooks and technical documents.
All terrestrial life ultimately depends on soil, energy, and water. Soils have always been central to human civilization and life. They are an integral part of the physical and cultural environment, and we may take them for granted and even tend to treat them contemptuously in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The rise and fall of civilizations have been closely linked with the use and abuse of soil and water resources. There is little reason to believe that these linkages will disappear in the future. It is therefore important to evaluate soils for their quality and link them to appropriate uses and services. In this publication, information is provided on soil classification and how to key out taxa relevant to UAE soils.
The recent soil inventory of the United Arab Emirates revealed that the UAE landscape is covered mainly by low-lying sandy deserts, mega-barchan dunes , extensive coastal salt flats, and alluvial and gravelly plains in both the far west and the east. The recent soil surveys revealed that a rather uniform-looking desert landscape has, in fact, a diversity of subsurface features that help to categorize the soils into 74 soil series and their phases. These features confirm the soil diversity in terms of classification, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, fertility, suitability for different uses, and vulnerability to land degradation. The objectives of this book are to provide information for keying out the soils of the United Arab Emirates into separate classes and to provide a guide to associated laboratory methods.
The classification used predominantly is extracted from the 11th edition of the USDA-NRCS Keys to Soil Taxonomy, and sections relevant to the soils found in the UAE are included here. Primarily, this key is designed to fit the soil system of the United Arab Emirates. Information not found in the USDA key has been added including criteria and classes for:
(1) differentiating anhydritic soils from gypsic soils;
(2) identifying “lithic” subgroups for Aquisalids and Haplosalids;
(3) identifying “salidic” subgroups within the great groups of Gypsids, Calcids, Psamments, and Orthents; and
(4) incorporation of phases for soil taxa.
The classes for the newly identified anhydrite soils in the UAE have been added at four different levels: the anhydritic subsurface diagnostic horizon and mineralogy class and the Anhydritic Haplosalids and Anhydritic Aquisalids subgroups. In addition, a horizon suffix of “aa” for layers with an accumulation of anhydrite has been incorporated. The concept of horizon suffix “k” also has an ad hoc expansion, beyond the official definition of pedogenic accumulations, to connote the simple presence of calcium carbonate as determined by effervescence in dilute hydrochloric acid. This usage is synonymous with the recently defined soil characteristic named “free carbonates” in the Keys to Soil Taxonomy.
The added classes or features that are proposed for USDA Soil Taxonomy are designated with a “†” in the Table of Contents and are footnoted in the text. The classes are in different stages of review and approval for use in the USDA soil taxonomy system; however, discussions regarding final approval and incorporation of the additions are ongoing. Other additions such as “Phases of soil taxa” are unique to the United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy and are not proposed for addition to the USDA system.
This book provides a mechanism for updating the current soil surveys and will facilitate the correlation of soils from new surveys within the UAE. Additionally, this book provides a source of information to help the international soil science community converse about UAE soils and their comparison to other soils. Commonality between classification systems used in different countries enhances linkages. These linkages allow countries with similar mapping and classification procedures and similar soils to transfer agriculture technology without conducting long-term experiments under similar environmental conditions.
For more information about soil classification in the UAE, visit:
"United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy" and "ICBA News"
United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy (UAEKST)
United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy presents information for keying out the soils of the United Arab Emirates into separate classes and provides a guide to associated laboratory methods. Additionally, it will help the international soil science community to converse about UAE soils, and facilitate comparison to soils of other regions. These linkages allow countries with similar mapping and classification procedures and similar soils to transfer agriculture technology without conducting long-term experiments under similar environmental conditions, especially for Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE).
AUTHORS:
Shabbir A. Shahid has more than 32 years of experience as a soil scientist in Pakistan, the UK, Kuwait, and the UAE. He served as lead soil taxonomist, technical coordinator, and quality assurance expert. He is a prolific author with over 150 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals and books and was a pioneer in soil survey on the Arabian Peninsula.
Mahmoud A. Abdelfattah served as mapping crew leader and deputy technical coordinator for the soil survey of Abu Dhabi Emirate and project manager for the Northern Emirates Soil Survey. He has over 25 years experience in teaching and research participating in numerous international conferences. He has authored over 50 published scientific papers and book chapters.
Michael A. Wilson is a Research Soil Scientist, USDA-NRCS-National Soil Survey Laboratory in Lincoln, Nebraska, He has served in this position for more than 25 years conducting soil genesis research specifically in the area of soil geochemistry and mineralogy. He has contributed to numerous USDA soils-related research projects in both the US and around the world specializing in climate change and soil classification/interpretation.
John A. Kelley is a soil scientist previously with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), United States Department of Agriculture and Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi, UAE. John is a soil survey quality assurance expert and a specialist in soil mapping, soil classification, and correlation of soil survey projects. He has extensive experience in soil survey procedures and documentation including digital soil photography.
Joseph V. Chiaretti is a soil scientist with the USDA and serves on the soil survey standards staff at the NRCS National Soil Survey Center located in Lincoln, NE. He is responsible for developing and maintaining soil survey division handbooks and technical documents.
All terrestrial life ultimately depends on soil, energy, and water. Soils have always been central to human civilization and life. They are an integral part of the physical and cultural environment, and we may take them for granted and even tend to treat them contemptuously in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The rise and fall of civilizations have been closely linked with the use and abuse of soil and water resources. There is little reason to believe that these linkages will disappear in the future. It is therefore important to evaluate soils for their quality and link them to appropriate uses and services. In this publication, information is provided on soil classification and how to key out taxa relevant to UAE soils.
The recent soil inventory of the United Arab Emirates revealed that the UAE landscape is covered mainly by low-lying sandy deserts, mega-barchan dunes , extensive coastal salt flats, and alluvial and gravelly plains in both the far west and the east. The recent soil surveys revealed that a rather uniform-looking desert landscape has, in fact, a diversity of subsurface features that help to categorize the soils into 74 soil series and their phases. These features confirm the soil diversity in terms of classification, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, fertility, suitability for different uses, and vulnerability to land degradation. The objectives of this book are to provide information for keying out the soils of the United Arab Emirates into separate classes and to provide a guide to associated laboratory methods.
The classification used predominantly is extracted from the 11th edition of the USDA-NRCS Keys to Soil Taxonomy, and sections relevant to the soils found in the UAE are included here. Primarily, this key is designed to fit the soil system of the United Arab Emirates. Information not found in the USDA key has been added including criteria and classes for:
(1) differentiating anhydritic soils from gypsic soils;
(2) identifying “lithic” subgroups for Aquisalids and Haplosalids;
(3) identifying “salidic” subgroups within the great groups of Gypsids, Calcids, Psamments, and Orthents; and
(4) incorporation of phases for soil taxa.
The classes for the newly identified anhydrite soils in the UAE have been added at four different levels: the anhydritic subsurface diagnostic horizon and mineralogy class and the Anhydritic Haplosalids and Anhydritic Aquisalids subgroups. In addition, a horizon suffix of “aa” for layers with an accumulation of anhydrite has been incorporated. The concept of horizon suffix “k” also has an ad hoc expansion, beyond the official definition of pedogenic accumulations, to connote the simple presence of calcium carbonate as determined by effervescence in dilute hydrochloric acid. This usage is synonymous with the recently defined soil characteristic named “free carbonates” in the Keys to Soil Taxonomy.
The added classes or features that are proposed for USDA Soil Taxonomy are designated with a “†” in the Table of Contents and are footnoted in the text. The classes are in different stages of review and approval for use in the USDA soil taxonomy system; however, discussions regarding final approval and incorporation of the additions are ongoing. Other additions such as “Phases of soil taxa” are unique to the United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy and are not proposed for addition to the USDA system.
This book provides a mechanism for updating the current soil surveys and will facilitate the correlation of soils from new surveys within the UAE. Additionally, this book provides a source of information to help the international soil science community converse about UAE soils and their comparison to other soils. Commonality between classification systems used in different countries enhances linkages. These linkages allow countries with similar mapping and classification procedures and similar soils to transfer agriculture technology without conducting long-term experiments under similar environmental conditions.
For more information about soil classification in the UAE, visit:
"United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy" and "ICBA News"