Pedogenesis

Pedogenesis (from the Greek: 'pedo- or pedon' meaning 'soil, earth' and genesis meaning 'origin, birth') is the science and study of the processes that lead to the formation of soil (soil evolution) and first explored by the Russian geologist Vasily Dokuchaev (1846 – 1903), the so-called grandfather of soil science, who determined that soil formed over time as a consequence of climatic, mineral and biological processes which he demonstrated using the soil forming equation:

Soil = f(C, PM, O) x time (where C = climate, PM = parent material, O = biological processes)

In 1941 the Swiss scientist Hans Jenny expanded Vasily Dokuchaev equation by adding relief/topology as a factor and separating the biological processes into the fauna and flora coming up with the equation:

Soil = f(C, PM, R, O, V,) x time (where C = climate, PM = parent material, R = relief/topology, O = fauna, V = flora)

Pedogenesis is though more a parent than a branch of pedology, whose other aspects include the soil morphology, classification (taxonomy) of soils, and their distribution in nature, present and past (soil geography and paleopedology).