Physical Characteristics
The Canadian Soil Thin Section/ Block Collection is comprised of resin-impregnated blocks of intact soil, as well as polished thin sections, mounted on regular (27x46 mm) petrographic slides, of these blocks. The blocks and sections are archived within the Micropedology Laboratory of the Department of Land Resource Science, at the University of Guelph.

Significance
Currently, the slide collection contains nearly 1300 specimens, including samples obtained and prepared for the 11th Congress of the International Society of Soil Science, (held in Edmonton, Alberta during June of 1978), as well as samples associated with research carried out by Agriculture Canada ad other soil scientists (including Arshad, Beke, Cameron, Clark, Coen, Eilers, Fox, Luttmerdi, McKeague, Mills, Protz, Sprout, Tarnocai and Wang). The Collection is national in nature, with specimens representing key soils from all provinces and territories.