Variation in Db as a function of cover type and major horizon designation.

Sample sites for islands of fertility project. Pits were described and sampled by the Soils and Biogeochemistry Graduate Group, Feb. 2005.

Simple comparison of total carbon and nitrogen (kg/sq. m) from two pits under oak canopy vs. under buckwheat bushes.

Premise

Soil color generally varies in a predictable pattern with depth according to surface vegetation, clay mineralogy and parent material. Highly contrasting parent geology influences soil color within Pinnacles via four main processes:

1. Original color of parent material
   sedimentary sources: grey, yellow, white
   granitic sources: yellow to orange
   volcanic sources: pink, orange, white, green
2. Landscape age
   older landscapes generally have redder hues (Fe-expression) from longer chemical weathering
3. Particle size distribution of parent material and the resulting field capacity of a soil formed from it
   coarse textures result in lower field capacities, limiting vegetation growth and subsequent accumulation of organic matter in the surface horizons
4. Weathering rate of parent material
   sedimentary materials derived from granitic sources (grey to yellow hues) have high levels of quartz and are therefore less susceptible to chemical weathering than volcanic rocks (redder hues)

 
Note that this is a bit out of date, since several errors have been corrected. (update pending)

 
Tabluar Summaries

PINN Pano 1: Recent burn area.

 
Overview
Two illustrations describing the progress over time for two tasks: the collection of pedon data in the field, and the input of this data into PedLogic. Number of pedons associated with individual workers are summarized by day. Note that data was usually collected in teams. Click on figures for larger version.

 
Overview
Google Earth provides a flexible and open ended vizualization system for geographic data. We intend to present PINN soils data thorugh our own, 2 dimensional, interface (to avoid dependence on a quasi-free setup like GE). However, there are considerable extra features that can be added onto our presentation of the data through GE. For example, synthesized pedon data, photographs, and even geologic diagrams can be presented to the user in a 3D environment with little work on our end: we have the data, GE does the hard work of presenting it in 3D. Some early examples of what this might be like, along with links to the actual data, are presented below. Download GE and our data to give it a try for yourself.

Misc. scanned images from work at the Pinnacles National Monument, in collaboration with the NRCS and NPS.