Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Concepts of soils
- 2 Pedogenic processes and pathways of horizon differentiation
- 3 Soil phases: the inorganic solid phase
- 4 Soil phases: the organic solid phase
- 5 Soil phases: the liquid phase
- 6 Soil phases: the gaseous phase
- 7 Soil phases: the living phase
- 8 The State Factor theory of soil formation
- 9 Factors of soil formation: parent material. As exemplified by a comparison of granitic and basaltic soils
- 10 Factors of soil formation: climate. As exemplified by volcanic ash soils
- 11 Factors of soil formation: topography
- 12 Factors of soil formation: biota. As exemplified by case studies on the direct imprint of trees on trace metal concentrations in soils
- 13 Factors of soil formation: time
- 14 Soil formation on Earth and beyond: the role of additional soil-forming factors
- 15 Soil functions and land use
- 16 Physical degradation of soils
- 17 Chemical degradation of soils
- 18 The future of soil research
- Appendix: Naming soils and soil horizons
- References
- Index
11 - Factors of soil formation: topography
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Concepts of soils
- 2 Pedogenic processes and pathways of horizon differentiation
- 3 Soil phases: the inorganic solid phase
- 4 Soil phases: the organic solid phase
- 5 Soil phases: the liquid phase
- 6 Soil phases: the gaseous phase
- 7 Soil phases: the living phase
- 8 The State Factor theory of soil formation
- 9 Factors of soil formation: parent material. As exemplified by a comparison of granitic and basaltic soils
- 10 Factors of soil formation: climate. As exemplified by volcanic ash soils
- 11 Factors of soil formation: topography
- 12 Factors of soil formation: biota. As exemplified by case studies on the direct imprint of trees on trace metal concentrations in soils
- 13 Factors of soil formation: time
- 14 Soil formation on Earth and beyond: the role of additional soil-forming factors
- 15 Soil functions and land use
- 16 Physical degradation of soils
- 17 Chemical degradation of soils
- 18 The future of soil research
- Appendix: Naming soils and soil horizons
- References
- Index
Summary
The term topography refers to the configuration of the land's surface. The topography of an area incorporates its relief (relative differences in elevation), its aspect (position with respect to compass coordinates), and the general shape and connectivity of land surfaces. These attributes mediate how external factors, such as solar radiation, precipitation and wind, impinge upon a site. Topographic relief imparts potential energy, by virtue of gravity, that functions to move water and regolith from higher landscape positions to lower ones. The movement of materials, including water and soil materials, on a landscape is influenced by the slope gradient and shape and the degree of connectivity of drainage networks. Thus, from a pedologic perspective, topography is important because it exerts a strong influence on the disposition of energy and matter experienced by soils on the landscape.
The processes that create topography are usually geologic in nature; e.g. tectonic uplift, fluvial erosion and deposition, mass wasting, volcanic activity and glaciation. A landscape produced by these processes is the blank canvas upon which soil patterns are painted by processes that are linked to topography. As time passes, these processes leave characteristic pedogenic imprints on different parts of the landscape, altering the original parent materials and differentiating the physical, chemical and biological nature of the soils by topographic position.
Topographic elements of landscapes
In most landscapes, topography governs the movement of water and is shaped by it.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Soils: Basic Concepts and Future Challenges , pp. 151 - 164Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
- 7
- Cited by