|
|
|
Land Management & Natural
Hazards Unit |
SOIL |
|
|
|
Soil
Atlas of |
|||||
A Soil Database of Europe
|
A catena is a repeated sequence of soils
that are associated with a change in landscape along river valleys. The term
is derived from the Latin word for chain since all the soils from the skyline
to the valley floor are linked together, or chained, when traced down the
slope. The characteristics of the soils vary with changing slope angle and
drainage conditions so that different degrees of leaching and translocation
of clays are found (EM).
Looking at soils from the air provides a graphic view of their variability in the landscape. The darker, freely draining soils along the gullies in this field are clearly apparent. Aerial photographs are widely used in soil survey and archaeology. The remains of buried structures or even wooden buildings that have completely rotted away can often be seen through variations in soil colour or other physical characteristics (EM). |
