120 Parent Material

Dictionary: d_parent_material

The classification of the parent material follows Lambert et al., 2003(*)

The parent material includes four levels: Major Class, Group, Type and Subtype.

Depending on the level of detail available to describe the dominant and secondary parent materials, i.e. Major Class or Group or Type or Sub-type, the user will choose any one of the provided codes.

Whenever possible, it is recommended to identify as precisely as possible the exact type of parent material, using the full 4 digit code.

For example, calcareous sandstone (1211) is preferable to sandstone (1210) or to psammite (1200).

The later should be used either if the type of sandstone has can precisely been defined, or when more than one type of sandstone is present in the plot.

(*) J.J. Lambert, J. Daroussin, M. Eimberck, C. Le Bas, M. Jamagne, D. King and L. Montanarella. 2003. Soil Geographical Database for Eurasia & The Mediterranean: Instructions Guide for Elaboration at scale 1:1,000,000, Version 4.0. European Soil Bureau Research Report N°8. EUR 20422 EN 64 pp. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg.