ABSTRACT

The New Zealand Soil Classification was published in 1993 and replaced the New Zealand genetic soil classification as the national system of soil classification in New Zealand. The New Zealand Soil Classification is hierarchical, comprising four categories above the level of soil series. Classes of the order, group, and subgroup categories are defined in Hewitt. Classes of the fourth category, soilform, are defined in Clayden and Webb. In the 1960s, the New Zealand genetic soil classification was recast as the New Zealand Technical Classification. The nomenclature of the published classification represents a somewhat uneasy compromise between apparently appealing technical names and simple or modified common English words. Names such as “Brown Soils” are differentiated as nouns by capitalization. Many New Zealand soils are representative of major world soils, such as the Allophanic Soils and Pumice Soils, which were studied during development of the Andisols order of Soil Taxonomy.