Profiles in History

Abstract

In February of 2012, Division S-12 of the Soil Science Society of America conducted their first field tour at Anza Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California. The tour focused on soils and geomorphology within the park. Field stops the first day included the Texas Dip (buried paleosol), Yaqui Ridge (dissected pediments and duripans), Kumeyaay Indian Village (cultural resources), Stag Cove (ancient fans and petrocalcic horizons), and Butte Pass (alluvial fan recycling). Day two of the field tour included a visit to the Stout Research Center Paleontology Lab, Font's Point and the Freeman Overlook, where badlands soil classification and mapping as well as land use were discussed. The final field stop on was the Clark Dry Lake playa where soils and evidence of seismic events were observed. First Division S-12 Field Tour at Anza Borrego Desert State Park, California. The 2012 field tour was Division S-12's first since it was formed by a merger of the National Society of Consulting Soil Scientists into the Soil Science Society of America in 2011. Shown above, S-12 members gathered for a group photo with the iron eagle sculpture produced by artist Ricardo Breceda. Photo courtesy of Philip Scoles, Terra Science, Inc., Portland, OR. Sodium–affected soils (SAS), or sodic soils, are soils that have been adversely affected by sodium salts and/or exchangeable sodium. They commonly occur in arid, semiarid, and subhumid climates. To a much lesser extent they occur in humid climates such as that of south-central Illinois. These soils present soil mapping and management challenges for approximately 946,943 acres (383,214 ha) in 20 Illinois counties. Sodium Affected Soil (SAS) Training in South-Central Illinois Field training was provided by Resource Soil Scientist, Bryan Fitch (Marion, IL) and MLRA Project Leader (Carbondale, IL), Dr. Sam Indorante to 45 employees from NRCS field offices and local Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The one-day training included both in-class study and field work using Electro-Magnetic Induction meters (EM-38) to locate SAS in farm fields. In the photo above, Brian Fitch (left) and Sam Indorante (center) discuss SAS at the training site in Clinton County, Illinois. Contributed by Dr. Sam Indorante, USDA-NRCS, Carbondale, IL. Members of the California Forests Soils Council and the Professional Soil Scientists Association of California convened June 25–28, 2015 for their annual meetings and co-sponsored field tour of an area known for third largest wildfire in California's history, the 257,314-acre (104,131 ha) Rim Fire of 2013. The field tour, coordinated by Dr. Ronald Taskey, focused on the soils and ecology developed on contrasting plutons and parent materials of the central Sierra Nevada Mountains. Participants learned about the influence of volcanic-granitic and granitic-metamorphic geologic contacts on soil development. Fire ecology was discussed, as well as responses to various management practices on different soil types. California Forest Soils Tour in the Rim Fire Area In the photo above, Drs. Ronald Taskey (left) and Robert Graham (right) discuss the properties of a coarse-textured soil derived from the granodiorite of Sawmill Mountain in Stanislaus National Forest. In addition to learning and professional development, the organizations’ members enjoyed three days and nights of camaraderie and camping at the Pine Mountain Lake Campground near the town of Groveland. Photo courtesy of Kerry Arroues, USDA-NRCS (retired), Hanford, CA.