A Technosol in the

World Reference Base for Soil Resources The World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is an international soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps. The currently valid version is the fourth edition 2022. It is edited by a working group of the I ...

is a Reference Soil Group that combines soils whose properties and

pedogenesis Soil formation, also known as pedogenesis, is the process of soil genesis as regulated by the effects of place, environment, and history. Biogeochemical processes act to both create and destroy order (anisotropy) within soils. These alterations ...

are dominated by their technical origin. They contain either a significant amount of artefacts (something in the soil recognizably made or extracted from the earth by humans), some sort of geotechnical liner, or are sealed by technic hard material (hard material created by humans, having properties unlike natural rock). They include soils from wastes (landfills, sludge, cinders, mine spoils, and ashes), pavements with their underlying unconsolidated materials, soils with

geomembranes A geomembrane is very low permeability (earth sciences), permeability synthetic membrane liner or barrier used with any geotechnical engineering related material so as to control fluid (liquid or gas) migration in a human-made project, structure, ...

, and constructed soils in human-made materials. Transported natural soil material does not qualify as Technosol and is described with the Transportic qualifier in WRB. Technosols are often referred to as urban or mine soils. They are recognized in the new Russian soil classification system as ''Technogenic Superficial Formations''. Technosols are developed on materials made or exposed by human activity that otherwise would not occur at the Earth’s surface. They occur primarily in urban and industrial areas, usually in small areas, and can be associated with other soil groups in a complex pattern. They are closely related to

Anthrosols An anthrosol (or anthropogenic soil) in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a type of soil that has been formed or heavily modified due to long-term human activity, such as from irrigation, addition of organic waste or wet-field cu ...

, soils created by long-term measures to enhance fertility for agricultural use, like the intensive addition of organic matter to soil, such as an old urban garden. Most research on anthropogenic soils describes specific aspects of their biology, chemistry or physical properties, cultural heritage and human geography, erosion, wastes, pollution, fertilizer management, and taxonomy. Very few of them, try to answer to the question: How fast do they start pedogenesis (viz., differentiating horizons)? A Technosol could differentiate A and O horizons at rates of more than one centimeter per year. Technosols are found throughout the world, e.g., at or near

cities A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s, mines,

refuse Waste are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste product may beco ...

dumps, oil spills, and coal fly ash deposits. These soils are more likely to be contaminated than other soils. Many Technosols must be treated with care as they may contain

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

substances from industrial processes.

References

* IUSS Working Group WRB: World Reference Base for Soil Resources, fourth edition. International Union of Soil Sciences, Vienna 2022.

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External links

profile photos (with classification)
WRB homepage
profile photos (with classification)
IUSS World of Soils {{Soil type Pedology Types of soil

See also

References

Further reading

External links