Identification of soil parent materials is based on visual interpretation skills, which can be developed by viewing and reviewing numerous soil pits and/or monolith photographs. Please remember that parent material properties are best observed in the relatively unaltered C horizon.
The tables provided in the pages under the Parent Material Index category will allow you to quickly locate specific types of parent materials shown on soil monoliths in the UBC’s collection. Please note that:
- there are no examples of glacio-lacustrine, eolian, loess, and volcanic types of parent material in the UBC’s collection and
- not all monoliths feature the parent material since it was too difficult to excavate it.
To see more examples of parent materials and associated landforms in their natural settings visit our web-based tool “Soil Formation and Parent Material” available at [ ].
The tables below show transported parent materials featured in the UBC collection that are associated with water and ice as the mode of transportation and deposition.
Click the links on the table of contents below to jump to the table of a specific parent material type.
Glacio-fluvial
| Parent Material Type | Soil Classification Category | Monolith No. |
|---|---|---|
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Sombric | 1-01 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Eluviated Sombric Brunisol | 1-02 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Melanic Brunisol | 1-05 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Melanic Brunisol | 1-06 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Eutric Brunisol | 1-15 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Dystric Brunisol | 1-20 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Dark Gray Chernozem | 2-10 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Dark Gray Chernozem | 2-11 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Gray Luvisol | 5-11 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Gray Luvisol | 5-12 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Gray Luvisol | 5-18 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Gray Luvisol | 5-32 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Gleyed Gray Luvisol | 5-44 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Dark Gray Luvisol | 5-45 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Brunisolic Gray Luvisol | 5-55 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Brunisolic Gray Luvisol | 5-60 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-05 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-06 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-07 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-08 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-10 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-13 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-19 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-21 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-26 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-28 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-31 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-32 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-35 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-37 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-51 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Gleyed Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-53 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Gleyed Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-55 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Orthic Regosol | 8-01 |
| Glacio-fluvial | Brown Solod | 9-18 |
Glacio-marine
| Parent Material Type | Soil Classification Category | Monolith No. |
|---|---|---|
| Glacio-marine | Fera Humic Gleysol | 4-07 |
| Glacio-marine | Orthic Gray | 5-26 |
| Glacio-marine | Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzol | 7-38 |
Glacio-lacustrine
The UBC monolith collection does not have any examples.