What was this soil?
A soil rich in anhydrite (CaSO4) which had not been described before anywhere in the world as a soil class.
Who discovered it?
Dr. Shabbir A. Shahid, a senior soil scientist at the Dubai-based International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and his co-associates Dr Mahmoud Abdelfattah and Khaliq ur Rahman Arshad at the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) have first described this soil, discovered in the coastal lands of the UAE.
Where was it discovered?
Anhydrite soil was discovered in the Al Dhabaya area of Abu Dhabi.
International recognition
The soil scientists of ICBA and EAD in collaboration with scientists from USA submitted a proposal to USDA-NRCS to consider its addition to the US Soil Taxonomy. The proposal was accepted and the anhydrite soil added into the twelfth edition of US Keys to Soil Taxonomy published in 2014.
The anhydrite soil was added at various levels.
- A new sub-surface diagnostic horizon “Anhydritic” was added, with this addition globally the number of sub-surface diagnostic horizons increased to 20.
- A new soil mineralogy class (Anhydritic) was added, with this addition globally the number of soil mineralogy classes increased to 33.
- A new soil subgroup “Anhydritic Aquisalids” was added, with this addition the number of soil subgroups under the great group Aquisalids is increased to 4.
- A new soil subgroup “Anhydritic Haplosalids” was added, with this addition the number of soil subgroups under the great group Haplosalids is increased to 6.
David W. Smith, Soil Science Division Director of the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the USA, in the Foreword of the 12th Edition of US Keys to Soil Taxonomy published in 2014 has highlighted that one of the changes in this edition is the recognition of the occurrence of anhydrite (CaSO4) in soils with the addition of a new diagnostic horizon, a new mineralogy class, and new Anhydritic subgroups for use in soil surveys. These are significant improvements to soil taxonomy which resulted from international collaboration with soil scientists of the UAE, where the soils with anhydrite were discovered.
