Factors of Soil Formation

Abstract

Israel is a country where contrasting climates meet across a sharp boundary line. Anyone traveling from Jerusalem eastwards will be struck by the swiftness with which the green of the mediterranean maquis vegetation turns into the yellowish-white barrenness of the desert. Similar transition lines, if perhaps somewhat less dramatic, exist in many other parts of the country. These differences in the climate cannot have failed to leave their distinct imprint on the soils formed. Moreover, it seems that there have been no significant changes in the climatic pattern throughout the formation time of even the oldest contemporaneous soils. For that reason, a presentation of the principal climatic features, and particularly rainfall distribution, is indispensable for an understanding of soil formation.