Resources For Earth Sciences and Geography Instruction


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Earth Science: Soils: Soils Links
  1. LINK BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF PESTS
    DESCRIPTION from Cornell University, `This guide provides photographs and descriptions of biological control (or biocontrol) agents of insect, disease and weed pests in North America.`
  2. LINK BIOMANTLE AND SOIL THICKENING PROCESSES
    DESCRIPTION from University of Illinois, find a time-speeded Flash animation of how soil develops. The role of organisms in soil genesis is emphasized. The site is richly referenced with Flash `roll overs` allowing quick access to glossary definitions of technical terms.
  3. LINK Collecting Crime Evidence from Earth
    DESCRIPTION AGI Web, how soils and forensics intersect
  4. LINK EXOTIC WORMS
    DESCRIPTION Here is a better student friendly reference about worms as an introduced species
  5. LINK FIELD BOOK FOR DESCRIBING AND SAMPLING SOILS
    DESCRIPTION from the National Soil Survey Center staff is in a PDF format (1.6 MB)and is a `field guide for making or reading soil descriptions and sampling soils as presently practiced in the USA.` The major sections of the document address Site Description, Soil Profile Description, Geomorphology, Geology, Soil Taxonomy. Anyone interested in properly describing soils needs to consult this source. Although primarily written for the college level, the diagrams and descriptions could benefit anyone.
  6. LINK KEY TO THE SOIL TAXONOMY
    DESCRIPTION from the USDA, descriptions on the characteristics of the 12 major soil orders.
  7. LINK MICHIGAN NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE
    DESCRIPTION from the MI NRCS, technical reports and policies for soil conservation within the state of Michigan.
  8. LINK NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE
    DESCRIPTION (formerly the Soil Conservation Service): your basic source for soils information.
  9. LINK NRCS PHOTO GALLERY
    DESCRIPTION from the Natural Resources Conservation Service-the site contains natural resource and conservation related photos from across the USA. Search by category and state from thousands of .jpeg and .tiff. Search categories include buffers, erosion, dams, floods, no-till, terraces, trees, wetlands, and much more.
  10. LINK ON LINE SOIL SURVEYS
    DESCRIPTION from NRCS, lists, by state, soil survey manuals that are completely on line.
  11. LINK PHOTOHISTORY OF AGRICULTURE
    DESCRIPTION from USDA, a fascinating look to past human and cultural environments can be viewed at the USDAs agricultural photo history site. Most of the photographs on display in this section were taken between 1937 and 1943 with some of the photos dating back to the 1800s. Thousands of black and white photos exist for agriculture, business, community, domestic scenes, education, government, landscapes, machinery, portraiture, and transportation.
  12. LINK SOIL CHARACTERIZATION DATABASE
    DESCRIPTION from Natural Resources Conservation Service, download soil related data like phosphorus and carbonate content, pH, and mineralogy for U.S. soil pedons. Presented in much more detail than information in soil survey manuals, this data can be downloaded in comma delimited files and used in spreadsheets.
  13. LINK SOIL DICTIONARY
    DESCRIPTION the Soil Science Society of America sponsors this look up service for terms related to soil.
  14. LINK SOIL SCREENING FOR CONTAMINATED SITES
    DESCRIPTION The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed this Soil Screening Guidance as a tool for screening at National Priorities List (NPL) sites.
  15. LINK SOIL SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
    DESCRIPTION from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, this site offers information on the physical and chemical characteristics of the more than 18,000 different soil series (used to name soil mapping units) found in U.S.
  16. LINK STATE OF THE LAND
    DESCRIPTION from NRCS, `This site provides data on land use and change, soil erosion and soil quality, water quality, wetlands, and other issues regarding the conservation and use of natural resources on non-Federal land in the United States.`
  17. LINK STATE SOILS PHOTO GALLERY
    DESCRIPTION from USDA, a state soil is represented by a soil series that has special importance to a particular state. To find out about the horizons, color, texture, structure, reaction, consistence, mineral and chemical composition of your state soil go to this site, offered by USDA-NRCS National Soil Survey Center at Iowa State.
  18. LINK TWELVE SOIL ORDERS
    DESCRIPTION Dr. Paul McDaniel at the Soil Science Division, University of Idaho has organized a graphic rich site `…that illustrate the distribution, properties, and use of these 12 soil orders.` This would be a good source for accessing imagery on soils and associated land use.
  19. LINK WILD ONES
    DESCRIPTION from EPA, `encouraging natural yards with a sensitivity to land use in harmony with Nature.`
  20. LINK WORLD SOIL RESOURCES
    DESCRIPTION created by the NRCS, the site is a gateway for all sorts of soil information ranging from photography techniques to air quality and nutrient management.
   

 

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