ABSTRACT
201South Africa is part of the relatively unknown “Third Major Soil Region” of the world. The dominant soils of this major soil region differ significantly from those of the other two major soil regions, namely, the soils of the high latitude big continents of the northern hemisphere and the soils of the humid tropics. Development of a systematic soil classification system for South Africa started about 1960 and culminated in the publication of “Soil Classification: A Binomial System for South Africa” in 1977. The system had two categories: the soil form and the soil series. The form was the higher category. The system was based on a number of well-defined diagnostic horizons. Easy to determine, mainly morphological criteria were used to define diagnostic horizons. Each soil form had a specific diagnostic horizon sequence. A revised version of the system, “Soil Classification: A Taxonomic System for South Africa,” was published in 1991. The soil family became the lower category, instead of the series. A series category is supposed to be developed below the family, but this has become totally bogged down, and thus no progress is being made because of a decision that series should represent natural soil bodies and not pragmatic entities. In the interest of efficient land use planning and sustainable land use, 202it is imperative that series should be defined as soon as possible, especially for the higher potential soils.
