QUANTIFICATION OF SOIL LOSS FROM ERODED SOIL PHASES

The objective of this review paper is to evaluate methods of identifyi ng eroded phases of a soil and quantifying the amount of soil from ero sion. The effect of accelerated erosion on soils is recorded on Nation al Cooperative Soil Survey maps as phases of soil series and reflect t he percentage of the original A horizon remaining. This definition req uires a knowledge of original A horizon thickness prior to cultivation . Erosion classes based on erosion of topsoil underestimate the extent of erosion from both the topsoil and subsoils, particularly where soi ls have been cultivated for hundreds of years and are severely eroded. For some soils, a major soil classification problem occurs when accel erated erosion affects the diagnostic horizons.