Soils of the Pacific Northwest shrub-steppe. Occurrence and properties of soils on the Arid Land Ecology Reserve, Hanford Reservation

Technical Report · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1977

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5228252· OSTI ID:5228252

Wildung, R. E.

The soils of the Arid Land Ecology Reserve, encompassing the IBP Grassland Biome intensive study site on the ERDA Hanford Reservation, are representative of a larger geographical region including much of the Columbia Plateau and Pacific Northwest shrub-steppe. This results from a unique diversity in parent materials of mixed origin derived from the loess eolian, lacustrine and stream-laid material including glacial outwashes, river terraces, flood plains and alluvial fans and meteorological factors accompanying a marked change in altitude within the Reserve resulting in development of soils over a range in temperature, moisture and vegetative regimes. The Reserve and the IBP Grassland Biome intensive study site serve as valuable, representative areas for the study of soil genesis and morphology in the shrub-steppe. The role of soils can be determined in basic environmental processes involving the flow of energy, cyclization of nutrients or the fate and behavior of pollutants. These processes may be examined to provide baseline information for comparison to other, more disturbed areas. Or, for investigative purposes, processes may be systematically altered to determine the influence of soil-perturbing activities such as agriculture, mining and industry on the terrestrial ecosystem.

• Research Organization: Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, Wash. (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-06-1830
• OSTI ID: 5228252
• Report Number(s): BNWL-2272
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

510100* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Basic Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
58 GEOSCIENCES
580100 -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
ARID LANDS
BIOMASS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMISTRY
CLIMATES
DESERTS
ECOSYSTEMS
ENERGY SOURCES
GEOCHEMISTRY
GRASS
GROWTH
HANFORD RESERVATION
METEOROLOGY
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
PLANT GROWTH
PLANTS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SHRUBS
SOILS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS