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3.4: Activity 2 - Taxonomic Class

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    14615
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    Name: ______________________________

    Section: _____________________________

    Student ID#:__________________________

    1) Now that you have studied the characteristics of the 12 soil orders, enter the most appropriate soil order name in each rectangle:

    Screen Shot 2021-06-23 at 11.49.01.png

    2) To illustrate the structure of Soil Taxonomy, separate a complete taxonomic name into the 6 categories. Follow the example of the Harney silt loam earlier in this laboratory.

    a) Colby:

    a. Taxonomic Name: Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, calcareous, mesic Aridic Ustorthents

    b. Order-

    c. Suborder-

    d. Great Group-

    e. Subgroup-

    f. Family-

    g. Series-

    b) Goessel:

    a. Taxonomic Name: Fine, smectitic, mesic Typic Haplusterts

    b. Order-

    c. Suborder-

    d. Great Group-

    e. Subgroup-

    f. Family-

    g. Series-

    c) Wymore:

    a. Taxonomic Name: Fine, smectitic, mesic Aquertic Argiudolls

    b. Order-

    c. Suborder-

    d. Great Group-

    e. Subgroup-

    f. Family-

    g. Series-

    3) State soils have been selected for all 50 states and three territories in the U.S. The group of soils represents a diverse sample of soil conditions and classifications. It serves as an interesting focus for a little practice at deciphering and understanding Soil Taxonomy. Use the attached list of state soils in Table 9 to reference state soil information. Tables 4, 5, and 6 will also help you with this exercise.

    a) What is the most commonly recognized ORDER among the state soils?

    b) Which of the soil ORDERS is not represented in the list of state soils?

    c) How many Oxisols are represented by the 53 soils?

    d) What is the complete SUBORDER name for the state soil of Alaska?

    e) How many Vertisols are represented in the state soils?

    f) In what soil property does the Downer soils of New Jersey differ from the Greenwich soils of Delaware?

    g) The state soil of South Carolina has a soil condition identified by its great group. What element is present in the upper 50 cm of this soil? (Hint: use Table 6)

    h) What is the complete taxonomic name for the state soil of Wyoming?

    Table 9. Soil Taxonomy classifications of state soils of the U.S. by Colby J. Moorberg and David A. Crouse is licensed under CC by 4.0

    Screen Shot 2021-06-23 at 11.52.54.pngScreen Shot 2021-06-23 at 11.54.17.png


    This page titled 3.4: Activity 2 - Taxonomic Class is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Anna R. Schwyter & Karen L. Vaughan (UW Open Education Resources (OER)) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.