Reference soil Belgium 03: Podzol

BE003

Podzols mainly occur in cool temperate and moist regions on coarse textured materials. Areas of Podzols have also been recorded from wet, tropical regions, notably the Amazon basin, southern central Africa and southeast Asia.

Characteristics

Soils having a spodic horizon (a dark coloured subsurface horizon with illuvial amorphous alumino-organic substances) within 200 cm from the soil surface, underlying an albic, histic, umbric or ochric horizon, or an anthropedogenic horizon less than 50 cm thick. Podzols are probably the most extensively researched group of soils.

Distribution of Podzols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil BE003: Podzols

REFERENCE: Mokma D.L. and P. Buurman. 1982. Podzols and podzolization in temperate regions. ISM Monograph 1. International Soil Museum, Wageningen. Profile B-102.

Classification

WRB 1998

Carbi-Gleyic- Podzol

0-5 cm	ochric horizon
25-83 cm	spodic horizon
5-25 cm	albic horizon
-	gleyic

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Gleyic Podzol

0-5 cm	ochric A horizon
25-82 cm	spodic B horizon
5-25 cm	albic E horizon
-	hydromorphic

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Haplaquod aquic sandy siliceous mesic

Physical characteristics

Particle size distribution

Depth (cm)	Gravel % v/v	very coarse sand % w/w	coarse sand % w/w	medium sand % w/w	fine sand % w/w	very fine sand % w/w	Total sand % w/w	coarse silt % w/w	fine silt % w/w	Total silt % w/w	Clay % w/w
5-25	-	1.0	2.0	13.0	75.0	6.0	97	1.0	0.0	1.0	1.0
25-52	-	1.0	3.0	16.0	70.0	4.0	94	0.0	0.0	-	6.0
52-67	-	2.0	4.0	15.0	71.0	3.0	95	0.0	0.0	-	4.0
67-82	-	1.0	2.0	14.0	71.0	5.0	93	0.0	1.0	1.0	5.0
82-97	-	3.0	5.0	16.0	66.0	7.0	97	2.0	0.0	2.0	2.0
97-115	-	1.0	3.0	14.0	73.0	7.0	98	1.0	0.0	1.0	2.0
115-155	-	1.0	3.0	14.0	76.0	4.0	98	1.0	0.0	1.0	2.0

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
5-25	-	-	-	-	1.0
25-52	-	-	-	-	6.0
52-67	-	-	-	-	4.0
67-82	-	-	-	-	5.0
82-97	-	-	-	-	2.0
97-115	-	-	-	-	2.0
115-155	-	-	-	-	2.0

Chemical data

Depth (cm)	pH H2O	pHKCl	EC 1: 2.5 dS/m	CaCO3 % w/w	C % w/w	N %	C / N	Exch. Acid cmol(c)/kg	Exch. Al cmol(c)/kg	Ca cmol(c)/kg	Mg cmol(c)/kg	K cmol(c)/kg	Na cmol(c)/kg	Sum Cations cmol(c)/kg
5-25	4.4	4.0	-	-	0.39	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
25-52	4.4	3.9	-	-	1.25	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
52-67	4.4	3.9	-	-	1.11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
67-82	4.6	4.1	-	-	0.88	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
82-97	4.6	4.2	-	-	0.60	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
97-115	4.5	4.1	-	-	0.86	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
115-155	4.7	4.3	-	-	0.26	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Depth (cm)	Base sat. %	CEC soil cmol(c)/kg	CEC clay cmol(c)/kg	CEC org cmol(c)/kg	ECEC cmol(c)/kg	Al sat. %	ESP %
5-25	-	1.8	-	-	-	-	-
25-52	-	10.7	-	-	-	-	-
52-67	-	8.8	-	-	-	-	-
67-82	-	6.8	-	-	-	-	-
82-97	-	5.5	-	-	-	-	-
97-115	-	6.7	-	-	-	-	-
115-155	-	2.5	-	-	-	-	-

Depth (cm)	pH NaF	P Retention %	ODOE	Al o % w/w	Si o % w/w	Fe d % w/w	Al d % w/w	Fe p % w/w	Al p % w/w	C p % w/w	Fe o % w/w
5-25	-	-	-	0.02	-	0.04	0.03	0.03	0.02	-	0.02
25-52	-	-	-	0.20	-	0.04	0.20	0.03	0.22	-	0.02
52-67	-	-	-	0.22	-	0.04	0.21	0.02	0.23	-	0.01
67-82	-	-	-	0.19	-	0.03	0.18	0.01	0.20	-	0.01
82-97	-	-	-	0.16	-	0.02	0.14	0.01	0.15	-	0.01
97-115	-	-	-	0.09	-	0.01	0.10	0.01	0.11	-	0.00
115-155	-	-	-	0.05	-	0.01	0.05	0.01	0.05	-	0.00

Profile description

Oe 0-5 cm	needles moderatelyvery friable,highly porous (>60 vol%),abrupt smooth boundary to,
Ep 5-25 cm	(light) grey (10YR 6/1, moist)fine sand,single grain,loose,many fine roots,abrupt wavy boundary to,
Bhm1 25-52 cm	very dusky red (2.5YR 2.5/2, moist)fine sand slightly gravelly,strongly coherent massive,very firm,few fine roots,continuous strongly cemented pans,clear wavy boundary to,
Bhm2 52-67 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2, moist)fine sand slightly gravelly,strongly coherent massive,very firm,continuous strongly cemented pans,clear wavy boundary to,
Bhm3 67-82 cm	dark brown (7.5YR 3/4, moist)fine sand slightly gravelly,strongly coherent massive,very firm,continuous strongly cemented pans,clear wavy boundary to,
B 82-97 cm	(dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)fine sand slightly gravelly,single grain,loose,common mottles (7.5YR 3/4),abrupt wavy boundary to,
2B'hm 97-115 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, moist)fine sand slightly gravelly,weakly coherent massive,very firm,abrupt wavy boundary to,
2C 115-155 cm	light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4, moist)fine sand slightly gravelly,single grain,loose,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	mixed lithology and composition
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	eolian sand
Remarks on Parent Materials	cover sand of young Pleistocene age
Soil Depth	155cm
Texture of parent material (second entry)	sandy
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	partially or moderately

Altitude	28m
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	plain
Slope	0%
Slope Aspect	north-east
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	flat or almost flat

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	poor
Dry From - To	0-97cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	moderate
Estimated run off (class)	medium

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Surface cracking	no cracks observed
Slaking of aggregates by tillage, rainfall or frost (USDA/SCS, 1979)	no surface slaking/crusting observed
Rock outcrop class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none
Evidence of salt; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-saline
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none

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Reference soil Belgium 03: Podzol

Characteristics

Reference soil BE003: Podzols

Classification