This publication, Keys to Soil Taxonomy, Twelfth Edition, 2014, coincides with the 20th World Congress of Soil Science, to be held on Jeju Island, Korea in June 2014. The Keys to Soil Taxonomy serves two purposes. It provides the taxonomic keys necessary for the classification of soils in a form that can be used easily in the field. It also acquaints users of soil taxonomy with recent changes in the classification system. The twelfth edition of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy incorporates all changes approved since the publication in 1999 of the second edition of Soil Taxonomy: A Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and Interpreting Soil Surveys. The authors of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy are identified as the ?Soil Survey Staff.? This term is meant to include all of the soil classifiers in the National Cooperative Soil Survey program and in the international community who have made significant contributions to the improvement of the taxonomic system.

This fifth edition of the KEYS TO SOIL TAXONOMY, prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil Survey Staff, "provides the taxonomic keys necessary for the classification of soils in a form that can be used easily in the field" (laminated cover, sewn binding) & it acquaints users with recent changes in the classification system. It "includes all revisions of the keys that have so far been approved, replacing the original keys in SOIL TAXONOMY: A BASIC SYSTEM..., & incorporates all amendments & recommendations" of this international committees on low activity clays, oxisols, andisols, vertisols, spodosols, & the aquic moisture regime. This new edition also includes an index. Pocahontas Press, P.O. Drawer F, Blacksburg, VA 24063-1020. (703) 951-0467.

"This edition ... incorporates all changes approved since publication of the ninth edition in 2003"--p. v.

The publication Keys to Soil Taxonomy serves two purposes. It provides the taxonomic keys necessary for the classification of soils in a form that can be used easily in the field. It also acquaints users of the taxonomic system with recent changes in the system. The previous eight editions of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy included all revisions of the original keys in Soil Taxonomy: A Basic System of Soil Classification for Making and Interpreting Soil Surveys. The ninth edition of the of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy incorporates all changes approved since the publication of the second edition of Soil Taxonomy. The authors of the Keys to Soil Taxonomy are identified as the "Soil Survey Staff." This term is meant to include all of the soil classifiers in the National Cooperative Soil Survey program and in the international community who have made significant contributions to the improvement of the taxonomic system.