The description and interpretation of thin sections should be kept separate as far as possible. A full description of a thin section must precede interpretation of the processes that have taken place.

The description of thin sections presents a number of problems. First, it would seem that the main concerns are with the description of minerals, weathered mineral and plant materials, but the whole range of composition, frequency and arrangement of these components create a number of problems. it is difficult to give a single scheme that will describe adequately the wide range of features seen in thin sections. It is probable that each major type of thin section requires its own special system to convey all its characteristics.

The descriptive side of micromorphology is vital for a number of reasons:

1. to record indetail the characteristics of soils whether at the level of a quartz grain, a structural arrangement or a feature due to a particular process;
2. to form a basis for the reconstruction of processes that have taken place or are taking place in the soil;
3. to provide a sound basis for the classification of soils either generally or for specific purposes; and
4. to compare the properties of different soils within an order, suborder, great group, or at lower levels of classification.

The major purpose of a micrmorphological description is to summarize observed objects in the form of written text, tables, graphs figures, or pictures. The summary needs to be clear, simple, logical, and systematic so that other specialist with little knowledge of soil micromorphology can use the information. Auniform terminology should be used so that other can understand the description. On the following pages are a brief listing of three commonly used classification systems used for describing soil thin sections. The books by Brewer (1976) and Bullock et al (1984) are currently out of print, but their terminology is most frequently used.

This page (http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/plymouth/programs/general.html) created by
Vera MacConnell, Research Technician, I on December 1, 1997.
Last Updated on December 8, 1997.