Cryosols

Abstract

This text is a contribution to the WRB Documentation Centre that illustrates the Reference Soil Groups (RSG) and all their principal qualifiers (PQ) in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2022). These lecture notes deal with the RSG of Cryosols. It provides the soil forming factors and the main characteristics of this RSG and reviews its classification at RSG and qualifier level. Examples of fully documented Cryosols with their principal qualifiers derived from expert sources are given in the “Typifying pedons” accompanying document . The “Historical review” accompanying document describes the changes in the evolving classification criteria for Cryosols since the FAO/Unesco Legend of the Soil Map of the World. The WRB soil classification system will benefit from a core set of documented occurrences of Reference Soil Groups with their principal qualifiers as illustrated here. However, not all principal qualifiers could be documented and a call for contributions is made to fill the gaps in the present Cryosol collection.