Module 2 - Soil diversity and development › 2.1 - Soil diversity and development
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Soil forum/soil diary

Now it’s your turn! Choose one of the options below and discover the soils around you. 


Option 1: Soil detective - Soils of the year 

Each year, a specific soil type is selected to highlight the remarkable diversity of soils worldwide. This is your chance to step into the role of a soil detective.

Visit the website of the German Soil Science Society or the International Union of Soil Sciences and browse through the list of past “Soils of the Year.” Choose one soil profile that catches your attention – perhaps because of its colours, its location, or its story. Now investigate it through the lens of soil-forming processes. As you examine the profile and its description, ask yourself: 

  • Which soil-forming processes can be detected from the visible features? 

  • What clues do the colours and layers provide? 

  • What do these clues reveal about climate, vegetation, water movement, or landscape position? 

Share your findings in the forum or document them in your soil diary. Focus less on memorising the soil name and more on reconstructing the story: What happened here? 


Option 2: Soil colours in the landscape 

Imagine you want to create a small painting using natural soil pigments. You decide to collect soils of different colours – dark brown, reddish, grey, or light brown.  

Before heading outside, think like a soil detective: 

  • Where might you find dark, organic-rich soil – and what processes create it? 

  • Where could grey soil indicate water saturation? 

  • Where might reddish tones suggest iron oxidation? 

  • In which landscapes could light or whitish soils occur – and why? 

Plan your search based on landscape position – slopes, valleys, forests, dry or wet areas. If possible, test your ideas on your next walk. If not, sketch your “soil treasure map” and explain your reasoning in your soil diary or the forum. 

The goal is not only to find different colours, but to connect them to the processes that shape them – and to begin seeing landscapes as living, dynamic systems. 


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