Standard Colors for Soils

I am looking for a complete list of standard colors that represent the various soil types (e.g. SP = yellow) for use when creating boring logs.  Is there such a listing that exists?

Parents
  • Ah, you seek the holy grail.  I too have pursued the quest of "standardized" soil and rock symbols.  Many will insist that it exists, but none can actually point to a national (or international) standard that defines exactly how these should look.  That being said, here is what I have found in my quest.  I will qualify my findings as applicable to US practice only.  I would hope that if someone else has found the actual grail, that they would share it's location and end my quest.

    1. The closest thing to a national US standard for USCS soil symbols that I have found is published in the COE Material Testing Manual.  This is a joint Army, Navy, and Airforce publication and goes under the joint designation of:

    FM 5-472/NAVFAC MO 330/AFJMAN 32-1221(I)

    Appendix B of this publication contains the chart provided below which includes actual soil symbols and color assignments.  Note since the manual is in black and white it is not clear if the symbols are to be colored line work on a white background or black line work on a colored background.  My version may be old so I would recommend you seek out a current version of this manual (I think it was last updated in 2001). This may be a significant quest in and of itself as it does not appear to be readily available.

    2. For rock symbols the closest thing to a national US standard I have found is provided by the USGS at:

    http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/fgdc_gds/

    This is primarily a standard for Geologic maps but section 37 contains standard rock symbols for cross sections.  No color recommendations are provided in this section but section 33 of the same manual provides recommended colors based on geologic age (not material type).

    3. Many State DOT's have published "standard" symbols and some even provide gINT libraries containing these symbols.  Some are based on USCS, some are based on AASHTO and some are customized state specific classification systems.  A few contain color recommendations. None agree with each other or with the semi national standards mentioned in 1 and 2 above. Thus "Standard" symbols may be dictated by the entity that is signing the check.

    Finally, I am sure you are aware of some of the problems associated with color symbols (if used as background colors, the moment your beautiful color printouts or pdf files are printed or copied on a black and white printer all geologic columns turn into solid black smudgy bars).  Also refer to the post in this forum entitled "Draw cross sections on fences" for a discussion of a specific problem in gINT dealing with color lithologic symbols on fences.

     

     

     

Reply
  • Ah, you seek the holy grail.  I too have pursued the quest of "standardized" soil and rock symbols.  Many will insist that it exists, but none can actually point to a national (or international) standard that defines exactly how these should look.  That being said, here is what I have found in my quest.  I will qualify my findings as applicable to US practice only.  I would hope that if someone else has found the actual grail, that they would share it's location and end my quest.

    1. The closest thing to a national US standard for USCS soil symbols that I have found is published in the COE Material Testing Manual.  This is a joint Army, Navy, and Airforce publication and goes under the joint designation of:

    FM 5-472/NAVFAC MO 330/AFJMAN 32-1221(I)

    Appendix B of this publication contains the chart provided below which includes actual soil symbols and color assignments.  Note since the manual is in black and white it is not clear if the symbols are to be colored line work on a white background or black line work on a colored background.  My version may be old so I would recommend you seek out a current version of this manual (I think it was last updated in 2001). This may be a significant quest in and of itself as it does not appear to be readily available.

    2. For rock symbols the closest thing to a national US standard I have found is provided by the USGS at:

    http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/fgdc_gds/

    This is primarily a standard for Geologic maps but section 37 contains standard rock symbols for cross sections.  No color recommendations are provided in this section but section 33 of the same manual provides recommended colors based on geologic age (not material type).

    3. Many State DOT's have published "standard" symbols and some even provide gINT libraries containing these symbols.  Some are based on USCS, some are based on AASHTO and some are customized state specific classification systems.  A few contain color recommendations. None agree with each other or with the semi national standards mentioned in 1 and 2 above. Thus "Standard" symbols may be dictated by the entity that is signing the check.

    Finally, I am sure you are aware of some of the problems associated with color symbols (if used as background colors, the moment your beautiful color printouts or pdf files are printed or copied on a black and white printer all geologic columns turn into solid black smudgy bars).  Also refer to the post in this forum entitled "Draw cross sections on fences" for a discussion of a specific problem in gINT dealing with color lithologic symbols on fences.

     

     

     

Children