SOIL STRUCTURE AND FABRIC

Abstract

Summary Definitions of structure, fabric, and texture, as used in pedology and geology, are proposed in which structure conforms to the broader concept of the soil physicist, fabric conforms to the concept as used in pedology by Kubiena (1938) and in sedimentary petrology (Pettijohn, 1949), and texture conforms to the broad concept as used in petrology (Rice, 1954). Fabric is a part of structure, and structure a part of texture. The term pedality is proposed for the study of what has been called structure in the field, and field grading for field texture. Kubiena's (1938) concepts of skeleton and plasma are defined more specifically, and the concepts of pedological features, and basic, elementary, primary, secondary, and tertiary structure introduced. Descriptive terms for structure are suggested and a descriptive system for soil materials proposed. Nomenclature of pedological features and the various levels of structure and fabric are discussed.