ABSTRACT
Pedons seldom occur individually; many similar pedons generally occur together in a soil body that is sometimes referred to as a polypedon, or simply a soil. They do not occur randomly across a landscape. The kinds and distributions of polypedons (or soils) are controlled by geology, or stratigraphy and lithology, topography, climate and microclimate, living organisms, and historical events. These are commonly referred to as the factors of soil formation that determine the kinds of soils that develop through time (Shaw 1930; Jenny 1941; Thorp 1942). Processes of soil formation are discussed by Simonson (1959).
