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Parent material name is a term for the general physical, chemical,
and mineralogical composition of the unconsolidated material, mineral
or organic, in which the soil forms. Mode of deposition and/or weathering
may be implied by the name.
The soil surveyor uses parent material to develop a model used for soil
mapping. Soil scientists and specialists in other disciplines use parent
material to help interpret soil boundaries and project performance of
the material below the soil. Many soil properties relate to parent material.
Among these properties are proportions of sand, silt, and clay; chemical
content; bulk density; structure; and the kinds and amounts of rock fragments.
These properties affect interpretations and may be criteria used to separate
soil series. Soil properties and landscape information may imply the kind of
parent material.
For each soil in the database, one or more parent materials may be identified.
One is marked as the representative or most commonly occurring.The representative
parent material name is presented here.
This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most
detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National
Cooperative Soil Survey. The information was prepared by digitizing
maps, by compiling information onto a planimetric correct base
and digitizing, or by revising digitized maps using remotely
sensed and other information.
This data set consists of georeferenced digital map data and
computerized attribute data. The map data are in a soil survey area
extent format and include a detailed, field verified inventory
of soils and miscellaneous areas that normally occur in a repeatable
pattern on the landscape and that can be cartographically shown at
the scale mapped. The soil map units are linked to attributes in the
National Soil Information System relational database, which gives
the proportionate extent of the component soils and their properties.