Abstract: THE WIDE RANGE of conditions under which soils have developed in the Hawaiian Islands has produced a pattern of soil geography which reflects the differential influence of the intensity and capacity factors of soil weathering. Soil formation is the product of two actions, weathering (W) and leaching (L), on the surface and near the surface of the earth's crust. 'Yeathering is the process of mineral decompositIon, and leaching is the solution of more or less soluble constituents and their removal in the percolating waters. Both of the processes occur at different degrees of intensity but under the normal temperatures and pressures of the earth's surface. Soil is formed from its geological parent materials by decomposition of various products of volcanic action in situ or after their transportation either in their natural state or after the action of various agencies of disintegration and erosion, or after partial or complete decomposition to secondary minerals in situ or after deposition of more or less soluble constituents. In all instances soil is the product of these actions on the surface under the prevailing environment to form surface horizons which. are distinct and parallel to the topographIC surface rather than to the geological formations of the earth's surface. The weathering action in soil formation (WxL) is strongly influenced by intensity factors of environment and time, and by capacity or inherent (resistance) factors of the parent material. The intensity factors are age or time of exposure (A), climate, including temperatures and rainfall (C), drainage (D), and vegetation (V), all of which govern the rate of action. The capacity factors are size of the units or texture (T), the inherent stability of mineral to decomposition (M), and the nature of the surface of mineral unit or coating (S). Thus
Publication Year: 1968
Publication Date: 1968-10-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 19
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