"This publication celebrates the centennial (1899-1999) of the United States Cooperative Soil Survey Program and documents some historical aspects of the soil survey history of Pennsylvania. We hope that this publication will help archive this information for future soil scientists in the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It also compliments two previous attempts to document some soil survey history of Pennsylvania (Ciolkosz et al., 1998, and Ciolkosz et al., 1999)."
"Soils have been sampled and analyzed in Pennsylvania for characterization since 1954. The initial sampling was done by the USDA Soil Conservation Service (SCS) now known as the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Subsequent samplings have been done by the Penn State Soil Characterization Laboratory, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the NRCS. Presently, 949 pedons (profiles) have been collected and analyzed. An account of the history of the sampling is given in Ciolkosz (1998). Initially the data (site, horizon, and laboratory) was available in hard copy printed form. Since the development of the computer, particularly the PC with large data capacities, the Pennsylvania analysis system and data have been computerized (see Ciolkosz, 2000; Ciolkosz and Thurman, 1992, 1994; Thurman et al., 1994). In order for a computer system to have longevity as it is modified and updated by computer programmers, the data system must be documented. Thus, the objective of this publication is to document the Penn State University Soil Characterization Laboratory Database System."
"Radiocarbon dating of material has given scientists a major tool to determine the age of materials that have incorporated carbon from the atmosphere into various organic as well as inorganic forms."
"Fragipans are of great interest to soil science. Particularly Pennsylvania soil science because they are found in soils that cover about 30% of Pennsylvania?s land surface. Although very abundant, their distribution is not equal across the state."
"Total elemental analysis was one of the earliest chemical analysis methods used to characterize the composition of soil material. With the advent of x-ray analysis emphasis shifted from total analysis to mineralogical analysis and the use of various extracting solutions to determine discreet components of the soil."
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