GENERAL INFORMATION

 Lecturer:            Ms. K. Verbeek Office DG30

 Time table:
 Lectures             Thu 9-10 am                     LTII
                           Fri 9-10 am                      Seminar Room I
 Practical             Thu 14-18 pm                   LTII

 1. COURSE ASSESSMENT

 The course assessment consists of:

• the final written examination accounting for 67%
• continuous assessment accounting for 33%

• end of term tests
• reports on the practicals
• reports on fieldtrips
• assignments and seminars.

• The lectures have been subdivided into topics (see below) which may cover several lectures.
• Participation in the lectures by questions and discussion is encouraged.
• Students will be given handouts wherever possible hut are also required to take notes during lectures.
• A reading list of books available in the departmental resource room is provided.
• Articles from journals will be made available in a reading file to be obtained in the departmental resource room.

• These are compulsory and occur about every week. They consist either of exercises, visits to institutions or fieldtrips (see programme).
• Practical exercises are regarded as an essential component of the course and for each a report needs to be written up, counting for continuous  assessment. The program of the practicals may change depending on arrangements made for fieldtrips and visits to institutions.

• Absence from a practical exercise is only acceptable if prior authority was given OR a certificate e.g. medical is submitted.
• Timely submission of reports and assignments (one week unless otherwise stated) is a requirement for marking.
• Copying from other students will result in negative marks.
• Points will be given not only for contents but also for timely submission, neatness, logic, referencing and completeness. Beware of contradicting statements.

The course is build up in a "developing trend", starting with the smallest entity, the individual soil characteristics and their interpretation. This is followed by how these characteristics are  formed (the processes) and why (the soil forming factors).
The more applied topics: classification and mapping of soils are  discussed using the previous concepts. The actual purpose: land evaluation and eventually land use planning, conclude the course.
familiarization with terminology.
                                                                                                         At the end of the course the students should be able to understand and comprehend why and how a soil is found in its position, what its uses  and limitations are and what the most appropriate management techniques  are.  An understanding of environmental factors, their influence on the landscape - soil system, with specific emphasis on tropical soils should be the result.  Students should be able to either deduce the environment from a profile or predict the profile from the environment. Through  field study and an understanding of the relevance of soil characteristics, the management and the quality of the soil for various land uses will be explained.

An attempt will be made to make the course as practical oriented  as possible however it is essential that the relation between soils and their environment is understood as a basis for the more applied parts of the course. This understanding is an essential tool in soil mapping and land evaluation where one is required to delineate soil distribution patterns and evaluate the quality of the soils.

 3. COURSE OUTLINE

 1. Profile Morphology

• How to describe soil: site and profile description
• Interpretation of morphological properties: e.g. what can be   deducted from a specific morphological property.
• Interpretation of chemical analyses.

• A detailed description of the weathering of rock to soil will be given. The various soil processes will be discussed related to their environment of formation and to the diagnostic horizons in classification.  For each process one has to be able to explain:
• What is the process and what is its effect on profile    morphology.
• What are the necessary conditions for its occurrence (when and   where does it happen)
• What is its horizon designation and which is the matching    diagnostic horizon in the USDA/FAO soil classification   systems.
• What are the main features you would use for identification in   the field and in chemical analyses.

• The environmental factors of soil formation with their influence  on soil genesis and therefore the related soil characteristics
• Their relevance in survey, mapping and land evaluation.
• One has to understand:
• How the environmental factors are interrelated
• What their influence is nn soil formation, e.g which processes   will occur and which soil characteristics will be found
• What the relevance is of each factor in soil survey

• The principles, relevance and constraints of soil     classification.
• The Zimbabwe soil classification system.
• USDA and FAO classification systems: principles.
• Predominantly through exercises soils will be classified with the aid of the respective handbooks.
• One has to understand:
• the concepts of soil classification systems, their similarities,  divergences and the constraints of each studied system.
• USDA soil taxonomy / FAO soil classification, familiarization   with terminology, the use of the handbooks and the classification procedures of profiles.
• Zimbabwe soil classification, the system, the understanding of   the soil map of Zimbabwe and the uses and limitations of the  major soil types.

• Predominantly during exercises, principles and applications will  be explained of aerial photo interpretation, remote sensing, geographical information systems.

• One must be able to carry out a soil survey for a specific purpose including:
• the use of appropriate remote sensing techniques
• the use of scale and mapping methods
• the organization and implementation of a survey
• the development of an appropriate legend, data storage and   the writing of the report

• Concepts of land evaluation and principles of FAO framework for   land evaluation, land capability classification, assessment   of soils for irrigation, crop yield models.
• Constraints and advantages of the different systems and their   uses.

•   An introduction to land use planning will he given, including techniques and methods

•  Soil and land degradation.
•  Management of tropical soils.
•  This section will be predominantly through discussions and student seminars. Topics will be assigned during the course of the year.

 1       Profile morphology: monoliths
 2       Assessment of texture, colour, consistency
 3       Fieldvisit soil 8c site description: UZ catena
 4       Fieldvisit soil & site description: Ruwa
 5       Analytical data discussion
 6       Micromorphology
 7       Aerial photography: Stereoscopic view
 8       aerial photo interpretation, intro
 9       aerial photo interpretation -- map production
 10      Fieldvisit catena: Domboshawa
 11      Soil Classification
 12      Video catena
 13      Soil Survey preparation
 14      soil mapping UZ farm - full day
 15      Visit ERSI -- GIS demonstration
 16      Visit Agritex
 17      Visit DR&SS: NASREC collection - soils of Zimbabwe