Geopedology as a methodological approach to soil survey: a brief discussion

Abstract

Soil mapping is based on two fundamental paradigms, the five factors of soil formation and the soil-landscape relationship. In both cases, understanding the relief conditions as which soils development are related is fundamental for the comprehension of the soil’s distribution over the landscape. The study of the relationship between soil and relief has received several names, including Geopedology, contraction of Geomorphopedology, which can be defined as the study of soils through their relationship with relief, under different aspects, the conceptual, the methodological and the operational and including the scales. At times, the term geopedology is applied in the literature as a synonym of soil-landscape relationship, soil-relief relationship, or simply correlated with soil cartography, without major conceptual distinctions. This review discusses the relevant events that led to the consolidation of studies on the soil-relief relationship, until the legitimation of Geopedology as a method, emphasizing the contribution of Geomorphology to pedological cartography.