Anthrosols are soils that have been significantly altered by the agricultural, horticultural, domestic and other activities of humankind. This article is based on the descriptions in FAO (2001).
Connotation. Soils with prominent characteristics that result from human activities; from Gr. anthropos, man.
Definition. FAO (2001) defines Anthrosols as soils that have been formed or modified by human activities such that
- 1.
a hortic, irragric, plaggic or terric horizon 50 cm or more thick is present; or
- 2.
an anthraquic horizon and an underlying hydragric horizon occur with a combined thickness of 50 cm or more.
Parent material. Virtually any soil material, modified through cultivation, excavation, or by addition of material.
Environment. Plaggic Anthrosols are most common in north‐west Europe; hydragric Anthrosols in Southeast and East Asia, and irragric Anthrosols in the Middle East.
Profile development. The influence of Homo sapiensis normally restricted to the surface horizon(s); the...
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FAO, 2001. Lecture notes on the major soils of the world. World Soil Resources Reports, 94. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 334 pp.
FAO, 2006. World reference base for soil resources, 2006: A framework for international classification, correlation, and communication. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 128 pp.
Zech, W., and Hintermaier‐Erhard, G., 2007. Soils of the World. Heidelberg, Berlin: Springer‐Verlag, 130 pp.
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Dahlgren, R.A. et al. (2008). Anthrosols. In: Chesworth, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Soil Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3995-9_33
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3995-9_33
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