We propose the implementation of the Soil and Landscape Evolution Model (SaLEM) for the spatiotemporal investigation of soil parent material evolution following a lithologically differentiated approach. Relevant parts of the established Geomorphic/Orogenic Landscape Evolution Model (GOLEM) have been adapted for an operational Geographical Information System (GIS) tool within the open-source software framework System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA), thus taking advantage of SAGA's capabilities for geomorphometric analyses. The model is driven by palaeoclimatic data (temperature, precipitation) representative of periglacial areas in northern Germany over the last 50 000 years. The initial conditions have been determined for a test site by a digital terrain model and a geological model. Weathering, erosion and transport functions are calibrated using extrinsic (climatic) and intrinsic (lithologic) parameter data. First results indicate that our differentiated SaLEM approach shows some evidence for the spatiotemporal prediction of important soil parental material properties (particularly its depth). Future research will focus on the validation of the results against field data, and the influence of discrete events (mass movements, floods) on soil parent material formation has to be evaluated.

The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) is a global open network supporting the development and sharing of knowledge about sustainable soil management, protection of soils against degradation, awareness raising, promoting soil research, and to make soil information broadly accessible. In that context the network intends to build a global soil information system (GSIS) with improved soil information being exchanged through web services. Each data holder shares data according to own data policies and technical frame conditions. In order to facilitate a coordinated effort providing comparable soil data, specifications need to be elaborated so that the shared information becomes interoperable, but also harmonized as much as possible. These specifications will be based on a globally agreed soil information model. Various models exist within soil information institutions, but also internationally, e.g. INSPIRE for Europe, ISO 25258 globally. Until today, it is still unclear whether data services using existing standards are technically. A test bed for interoperability of soil data has recently been started through OGC. This presentation will provide an overview about the objectives, challenges and current processes striving to develop a global web-based soil information exchange.

During 2008 the GEochemical Mapping of Agricultural Soils (GEMAS) project collected 2108 agricultural (ploughed soil, Ap horizon, 0-20 cm) and 2023 grazing land soil samples (Gr, 0-10 cm) evenly spread over 33 European countries and covering an area of 5.6 million km(2). The pH of all samples was determined by one single laboratory applying a 0.01 M CaCl2 extraction, and following a strict quality-control procedure. The resulting pH-value distributions for European Ap and Gr soil are both bimodal. Broad acidic modes, with pH between 4 and 6, and sharp alkaline modes, with pH between 7 and 8 due to the Ca2+ buffer system, are clearly separated. The European median pH is 5.8 for the GEMAS Ap soil samples and 5.5 for the GEMAS Gr soil samples. According to the pH distribution maps, Europe is separated into two main zones: northern Europe with generally lower pH values (Ap: 5.2, Gr: 4.8), dominated by acidic soils occurring in Fennoscandia, and southern Europe with higher pH values (Ap: 6.3, Gr: 5.9), dominated by carbonate rich soils. The separation line coincides with the southern border of the sediments of the last glaciation. The dominant factors controlling pH at the European scale are thus geology (crystalline bedrock) in combination with climate (temperature and precipitation). The GEMAS pH maps mainly reflect the natural site conditions on the European scale, whilst anthropogenic impact is hardly detectable. The GEMAS results provide a unique set of homogenous and spatially representative soil pH data for the continent. The data set defines a dependable continental-scale background, and offers the possibility to calibrate studies on more detailed scales. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

(1) Geological Survey of Finland, P.O. Box 96, FI-02151 Espoo, Finland (timo.tarvainen@gtk.fi), (2) Geological Survey of Norway, P.O. Box 6315 Sluppen, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway (clemens.reimann@ngu.no), (3) Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita de Napoli ‘Federico II’, Via Mezzocannone 8, 80138 Napoli, Italy, (4) Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Stilleweg 2, 30655 Hannover, Germany, (5) Czech Geological Survey, Klárov 131/3, 118 21. Praha 1, Czech Republic, (6) Geological Survey of Sweden, Box 670, S-751 28 Uppsala, Sweden

Soil parental materials represent the weathering product of any surficial geological substrates comprising in-situ fragmented and dissolved rocks, unconsolidated sediments of various types and origins, or even paleosoils. Weathering, erosion, transport and accumulation processes of geological materials governing the formation of soil parent materials display a highly complex non-linear behaviour at larger spatial scales over smaller geological time periods (< 50.000 years) in lithologically complex settings. This is particularly evident in periglacial environments where regional allochthonous sediment supply contributes to soil parent material formation. We propose a GIS implementation of a landscape evolution model (LEM) for the spatiotemporal investigation of soil parent material evolution following a lithologically differentiated approach. The well-established LEM tool GOLEM has been adapted and realized as a module for the open-source GIS SAGA to operate in a spatially distributed framework, taking advantage of the highly developed capabilities of SAGA for morphometric digital terrain analysis. The LEM is driven by high-resolution paleo-climatic data (temperature, precipitation) representative for periglacial areas in Northern Germany over the last 50.000 years. The initial conditions of the LEM are determined for a test site by a digital terrain model and a geological model. The geological model was parameterized through geological field data derived from rock mass rating procedures and soft sediment analyses to account for a lithologically differentiated LEM set up with respect to first-order mechanical properties of both rock-type and unconsolidated lithologies. Weathering, erosion and transport functions of the LEM are calibrated using the extrinsic (climatic) and intrinsic (lithology) parameter data. First results indicate that our differentiated LEM-based approach displays some evidence for the spatiotemporal prediction of important soil parental material properties (e.g., thickness, structure, texture, and composition). However, the results have to be validated against field data, and the influence of discrete events (landslides, floods) has to be evaluated.

INSPIRE provides the framework for the establishment of a European Spatial Data Infrastructure. The cross-border use and applicability of data requires that specific standards and rules are fulfilled by data providers. Such rules are currently being developed as data specifications. Soil as a theme in the INSPIRE annex III is included in this process, and was selected as the target theme for the EU best practice network GS SOIL "Assessment and strategic development of INSPIRE compliant Geodata-Services for European soil data". The project contributes to the harmonization and provision of interoperable soil geodata in Europe. The main deliverable of the project is the web portal http://gssoil-portal.eu/, which provides information, data management tools and links to data sources. Examples are the soil specific multilingual thesaurus, a metadata editor and catalogue service, provision of WMS and prototype WFS.