I agree that this is probably the most sensible intended meaning. But I wonder whether "within" actually means that.
Consider another, perhaps more common, case where we use within...
Aquic Humixerepts "in one or more horizons within 75 cm of the soil surface" - in this case, because a horizon is specified we imply that some thickness of the feature of interest occurs above 75cm. So if the horizon started at 75cm, would that be within the range?
In the cases where we have "contacts" that have no/arbitrary thickness the "one or more horizons" part is absent and makes the meaning potentially ambiguous.
Also, if "less than" means explicitly "<", then a soil with paralithic contact at 50cm is not in a shallow family in the Key to Depth Classes, whereas a soil with a lithic contact at 50cm is in a lithic subgroup. Not that there is an inherent problem with these two not aligning. It just highlights a case where less than is used that it might not be intended to be exclusive.
Another possibility I hadn't considered until now is that "less than" could be interpreted as "less than or equal to" (i.e. less than is always INCLUSIVE) with the understanding that most of the wording in ST is to make the sentences readable. I.e. if you tried to replace "within" throughout ST (not that you would always want to) you wind up with some very wordy clauses. And, as you mention, there are many cases where less than/more than are used where the intended meaning is exclusive.
I'm sorry if this seems exceedingly nitpicky. I am interested in transposing logic from ST into calculations to programmatically determine soil classification from basic horizon data. Such technology is critical to evaluating proposed changes to ST and validating classifications that may have been done in other versions of the keys or with different data.
I recognize that for all practical purposes we can follow the "spirit" of ST in these "on the line" cases ... but computers need a clear way to make the decision. :)
Thanks for weighing in! I think your view is likely the most common interpretation, but I have encountered folks who have argued otherwise.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2017 12:12PM by agbr0wn.
