Two schools of Russian soil cartography

In soil cartography, relief is considered the universal factor of soil combinations formation. Unique character of relief plaster lies in the fact that it allows to detect local, regional and global regularities of formation of geology and tectonics of our planet. All world scientific revolutions in cartography of the Earth sciences are based on geometric principles. Their development and implementation into praxis became possible thanks to longstanding activity of soil scientists under the leadership of academicians V.A. Kovda, V.R. Volobuev and professor I.N. Stepanov. Method objective is cartographic authentic mapping of the Earth shell structure dynamics. It is not possible to name the idea itself innovative because almost 150 years ago J. Clerk Maxwell in one of his articles wrote about regularities of location of "swells and valleys" of the Earth surface. Analogues of relief plaster map can be met on the maps of the famous Russian soil scientists Dimo and Volobuev, geologist Sobolevsky. Today the relief plaster method is developing and improving on the basis of Institution of Biological Engineering of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Pushhino. The new computer methods of morpho-isograph procedure are developed (zero planned curve lines), suggested by professor Stepanov.