Soil Explorer Exercise Update 2.0
1. Go to the Isee website: http://isee.purdue.edu or soilexplorer.net
2. Click on Kentucky from the drop down menu.
3. Go to Soil Properties and check Dominant Soil Parent Material
4. Answer these questions on Parent Material!!
a. What is the dominant parent material if you drove from Fayette County, KY to Pike
County, KY?
b. What is the dominant parent material in Henderson County, KY? What does Loess
represent in the texture triangle?
c. What is the dominant parent material in Lyon County, KY? What do you know about this
parent material?
d. What is the drainage class and dominant parent material for Calloway County, KY?
e. Look at the map of the entire state of KY, what are the 4 dominant parent materials and
what is the dominant soil order?
f.
Now find your home and record the dominant parent material and drainage class? If
your home is represented use Tippecanoe County, IN (West Lafayette BOILER UP!)
g. Change your state in Indiana from the drop down menu and look at the choices. There
are three other tabs what are they?
h.
What is the King’s 1852 Map? Where in Indiana can you find low base saturation soils?
5. Soil Orders, Drainage, and Fragipans
a. Hit the Conterminous US in the drop down menu and record the two most common soil
orders in KY and your home state. (Then click on soil drainage and fragipan and record
those below)
b. From what we have discussed in class, what do the soil orders tell you about your state
in terms of geologic time?
c. Change your state to Arkansas, how does the west and east of the state compare in
terms of drainage and soil orders?
d. Now pick three places in the US you would like to visit and record the soil order for
those areas.
6. International Soils, SMTs, and SMRs
a. Hit the World Map in the drop down menu and record the three most common soil
orders. Where are they primarily located and why do you think these soils formed in
these locations?
b. Record the soil orders for three places internationally that you would like to travel.
c. Let’s look at the SMRs and SMTs next. What are the trends that you see when looking at
the SMRs and SMTs? Why do these trends make sense?
d. Compare the SMRs and SMTs to the soil orders in those areas?