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SoilGen model

modelling pedogenesis

Topic: modelling soil formation

Many soils in the western European loess belt have in common (i) a parent material deposited in the late Weichsel period (up till about 15,000 BP), (ii) a mineralogical composition with some 10-15% calcium carbonate, some 12-18% clay minerals dominated by montmorillonite and most of the silt-sized fragments dominated by quartz minerals.

As far as soil genesis is concerned, there are often indications of decarbonisation followed by clay migration. Clay migration may no longer be an active process in semi-natural environments, when pH drops to levels at which Aluminium and Iron enter the soil solution and keep the clays flocculated, while in agricultural environments liming may have favoured a re-start of clay migration, often in combination with organic materials.

Knowledge as summarized above has come from mineralogical and soil chemical analysis and is supported by soil morphological observations. Most of the underlying processes are now understood quite well and can be modelled.

The SoilGen model was developed to better understand various aspects of soil formation as a function of the CLORP soil forming factors.

On the SoilGen page more info.

Here a presentation.