The results of the Internet discussion on the classification of urban soils aimed at evaluating their possible inclusion into the modern Russian soil classification system adopted by a wide range of...

The development of soil classification in China has progressed in a rather complicated way; to a great extent, it has depended on the state policy. The former classifications had a zonal-factor trend: the first Chinese classification system was an analogue of the American classifications of the middle American period; in 1954–1984, the Soviet system was used, where names of the soils did not differ from those accepted in the USSR. In 1994, the Chinese Soil Taxonomy was created, which replicated the American classification in the structure, principles and terminology but emphasized some Chinese specificity. In the next variant of the Chinese system of 2001 (the object discussed in this paper), some elements of the International System (WRB) appeared, and the process-genetic approaches are displayed rather distinctly.

The development of the terminology in the field of soil micromorphology reflected a well-known contradiction between two approaches—the genetic and interpretational versus the substantive and morphological-which ended with a compromise in the form of the international Handbook for Soil Thin Sections Description published in 1985. This handbook was widely used around the world. Later on, several changes were introduced into it, and it was updated in the new monograph by G. Stoops. Recently, a list of the main terms appeared on the Internet in 16 languages. The authors of this paper created the Russian version of these terms, which stimulated the further discussion of the nomenclature and concepts in the field of soil micromorphology in Russia. The comparative analysis of the micromorphological terminology presented in this paper may be useful for micromorphologists to improve the description and interpretation of thin sections and for a wider range of specialists in soil science and related sciences to adequately assess the options of using micromorphology in their research.

Using the latest version of the international soil classification (WRB 2014/2015) and the classification of soils of Russia (2004/2008), the authors attempted to demonstrate how specific profiles of...

A review of the systems of symbols used for designating the soil horizons and properties identified in the course of profile descriptions has been made with emphasis put on their genetic meaning, adeq