A SYSTEM OF SOIL MAPS - EXPERIENCE IN APPLICATION OF A POLYCOMPONENT BASIC CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS FOR MAPPING PURPOSES

The potentialities of the application of a basic polycomponent classif ication of soils for mapping purposes are discussed. The approach sugg ested is based on a concept of soil cover as a complex system that can be characterized by the sets of stable features developed in the cour se of pedogenesis and inherited from soil-forming rocks, and by modern processes and regimes of soil functioning. Pedogenic and lithogenical ly inherited soil features, as well as soil regimes, have their own sp ecific regularities and are classified in different components of the basic classification of soils. They can be mapped separately on corres ponding maps. A system of such maps has an increased information capac ity and can be successfully used for solving various practical and the oretical tasks.