Glossary of Soil Science Terms

TERM OF THE WEEK

breaklands: An assemblage of very steep (e.g., 60–90%), high relief slopes flanking major rivers and streams in mountainous terrain that form the walls of a v-shaped river valley. Breaklands are characterized by colluviated slopes of which the majority of the ground surface drains directly to a large axial stream at the base, and the remainder consists of shallowly incised, parallel drainageways. Breaklands have shallow to very deep soils, substantial rock outcrop, and have more frequent fires than lower gradient mountain slopes above; extensive along the rivers and streams of the Idaho Batholith (Holdorf and Donahue, 1990; Schoenenberger and Wysocki, personal communication, 2013). Compare dissected breaklands.