Fwd[2]: News from IUSS WRB working group (2026/1)
Maria Bronnikova
Maria Bronnikova
Chair of IUSS Commission 1.6 Paleopedology
Senior Research Scientist
Department of Soil Geography & Evolution
Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences
---------- Пересылаемое сообщение --------
members and co-workers of the IUSS Working Group WRB
Topic 1. Your support is needed: WRB Documentation Centre.
The first stage of the ‘WRB Documentation Centre’ has been finished! Characteristics of all Reference Soil Groups (as new ‘Lecture Notes’), consistent with WRB 2022, have been completed, in line with reviews of historical changes in the classification criteria and the documentation of soil profiles. All materials are available here:
https://ees.kuleuven.be/soil-monoliths/wrb-documentation-centre/
Great thanks to Seppe Deckers and Freddy Nachtergaele for their governance and commitment!
It is worth noting that 85 experts from 36 countries on all continents have participated in writing and editing the new Lecture Notes. Great job, thank you!
But our challenge is to collect example profile/monolith descriptions for all Principal Qualifiers listed currently for respective Soil Reference Groups. As you can see, many cases are still missing! Does this mean that these soils do not exist and some of our solutions are only theoretical? Help us to check it. Help us complete the documentation for Soil Reference Groups and illustrate the global diversity of soils, by providing examples from your country! Promote your research and your team😊
This project has great scientific and educational importance.
Please find the attached list of undocumented Principal Qualifiers (ordered by RSG). If you could provide a description and photo of the missing case, please write to us. It may be a soil profile/pedon taken from both your published or unpublished work or a monolith from a museum/university collection (if at least some analytical data are available). The ‘Typifying pedon’ files show you how the documentation can be formatted, but we will help you with formatting and classification, if needed.
Topic 2. WRB trip 2026.
There is still a possibility to register for the '2026 WRB Cryosol Workshop Trip'. Please find the attached preliminary agenda of the tips, from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay (Arctic Ocean), July, 15-23, 2026. Please note that students will start the classes in Anchorage (July, 10), but the WRB participants will start the trip in Fairbanks (July, 15).
The agenda is excellent as many landscape phenomena and ecosystems are involved, typical of arctic areas impacted by permafrost. Please note, in particular, the famous permafrost research tunnel! Of course, a set of permafrost-affected, cryoturbated, mineral and organic soils, at various stages of their development, as well as natural and human affected, are planned.
If you are ready for this challenge, please register using the link or QR code displayed in the attached flyer. The deadline for registration is January 30, 2026.
Topic 3. Urgent – abstracts to WCSS 2026.
Please note that the deadline for abstract submission for the 23rd World Congress of Soil Science in China has been extended to January 15, 2026.
We suggest the following sessions:
- 113001 Towards improved criteria, diagnostics, and classification of human-constructed and human-transformed soils in the World Reference Base (WRB) system
- 104001 The Role of Soil Classification in the Shared Future of Humanity
- 102004 Open discussion session on observed phenomena in soils and their underlying pedogenic processes: Bring and share photos of your macro- and micromorphological observations and join the discussion on debated phenomena!
All details are available here: https://www.23wcss.org.cn/topic/index.html
Abstract Submission--The 23rd World Congress of Soil Science (23wcss.org.cn)
Follow us on X: https://x.com/wrb2022
All the best,
Cezary Kabala and Stephan Mantel
--
Prof. Dr. Cezary Kabala
Wroclaw University of Life and Environmental Sciences
Head of Institute of Soil Science, Plant Nutrition and Environmental Protection
Vice-chair of the Soil Science Society of Poland
Chair of the IUSS Working Group WRB
CATENA Editor-in-Chief