ON A PROBLEM OF THE REPRESENTATIVE SOIL PROFILE

• Main Author: V. A. Rozhkov
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute 2018-07-01
• Series: Бюллетень Почвенного института им. В.В. Докучаева
• Subjects: representative profile (soil pit); classiology; numerical classification; classification dualism; generator (machine) of classifications; classification theory; classification-specification; typical image; holotype
• Online Access: https://bulletin.esoil.ru/jour/article/view/285

The classification may be created on a basis of the analysis and grouping of the soil data or some typical images (standards) of the soil, which were imagined or selected from the existing data. These will be the representative profiles. The expression "representative profile or soil pit" may serve as a summary (denotation) of concepts different in meaning or content. As reference points may be taken mean, modal, or median profiles of the marked taxons, holotype – profile, which is the most similar to the whole taxon profiles. However, the calculated representatives are not entirely convenient because of the dependence on the volumes of multidimensional samples. Two approaches are combined. However, this also causes the increase of the subjectivity share, which is contained in the procedures of representative processes identification in the groups of initial objects. Nevertheless, we found more objective approach of typical samples detection, which is presented by the idea of classification-specification. The purpose of classification (genetic, factorial, substantive, combined, etc.) is determined through a fixed system of soil indicators (specificities) corresponding to this goal, organized in the form of a classification-specification graph. The number of objects for such a classification is determined by the number of gra-dation combinations for the values of the selected specificities (Кj), where j = 1,2, ... m, and m is the number of specificities taken into account. The edges of the graph reflect descriptions of representative images (types) of classification taxa. The word “type” here is related to the representative profile, and not to a soil.