Soil type

In hierarchical soil classification systems, soil types mostly belong to the higher or intermediate level. A soil type can normally be subdivided into subtypes, and in many systems several soil types can be combined to entities of higher category. However, in the first classification system of the United States (Whitney, 1909), the soil type was the lowest level and the mapping unit. For the definition of soil types, some systems use primarily such characteristics that are the result of soil-forming processes (pedogenesis). An example is the German soil systematics. Other systems combine characteristics resulting from soil-forming processes and characteristics inherited from the parent material. Examples are the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) and the USDA soil taxonomy.