2 Background
The soil profiles that pedologists describe are components of a larger landscape, and both influence and are influenced by their surrounds. To bring structure to the information we gather about the profile surrounds, the available inputs can be grouped into ‘soil forming factors’. These are commonly conceptualised in soils literature using the ‘clorpt’ model, whereby soils are considered to be a product of interactions of Climate, Organisms, Relief, Parent Material and Time (Jenny 1941). This section is loosely organised around these factors and describes where information on them can be found (specific to the New Zealand context) and certain parameters that may (or must) be measured directly in the field.