Reference soil Brazil 03: Ferralsol

BR003

Ferralsols occur in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, mainly on old and stable land surfaces.

Characteristics

Soils having a ferralic horizon (strongly weathered horizon with low-activity clays and very low amounts of weatherable minerals) between 25 and 200 cm from the soil surface. They lack a nitic horizon (a horizon with strongly developed, nut-shaped structure) and do not have a layer which fulfils the requirements of an argic horizon and which has, in the upper 30 cm, 10 percent or more water-dispersible clay.

Distribution of Ferralsols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil BR003: Ferralsols

Brief field description: Very deep, well drained, dark red, clay derived from gneiss. Charcoal particles present in the top 36 cm. *) Brazilian classification: Latossolo Vermelho Escuro argiloso distrofico. Reference soil BR 02 is comparable to soil profile 7 PRJ I RCC.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Geric- Ferralsol (Alumic Clayic Rhodic)

Alumi-Vetic- Ferralsol (Rhodic)

36-170 cm	ferralic horizon
-	geric

0-36 cm	ochric horizon
36-175 cm	ferralic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Rhodi-Geric Ferralsol

Acric Ferralsol

0-36 cm	ochric A horizon
36-175 cm	ferralic B horizon
- cm	ferralic B horizon
-	geric

0-36 cm	ochric A horizon
9-170 cm	oxic B horizon

Local classification:	Latossolo Vermelho-Escuro argiloso distrófico

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Rhodic Acrustox
USDA-SCS (1975)	Rhodic Acrustox ustic clayey kaolinitic hyperthermic

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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
0-9	-	1.9	7.5	10.4	15.2	6.7	-	3.9	3.4	7.3	50.4
9-36	-	1.5	7.4	8.3	13.5	6.1	36.8	4.4	4.2	8.6	52.5
36-72	-	2.2	5.8	7.1	11.9	5.9	32.9	5.0	5.8	10.8	55.1
72-102	-	1.8	5.2	7.6	11.3	6.4	32.3	4.5	4.5	9.0	59.2
102-147	-	1.8	5.9	7.5	10.9	6.1	32.2	5.4	3.7	9.1	58.4
147-170	-	2.4	5.1	8.0	11.5	5.5	-	4.4	5.8	10.2	57.8

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-9	-	69	-	30.6	50.4
27-34	1.259	-	-	-	-
9-36	-	69	-	27.9	52.5
55-63	1.117	-	-	-	-
36-72	-	70	-	1.0	55.1
86-94	1.018	-	-	-	-
72-102	-	74	-	0.5	59.2
102-147	-	69	-	0.5	58.4
147-170	-	68	-	0.5	57.8

Other physical data

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	pF 0 % v/v	pF 1.0 % v/v	pF 1.5 % v/v	pF 2.0 % v/v	pF 2.3 % v/v	pF 2.7 % v/v	pF 3.4 % v/v	pF 4.2 % v/v
27-34	1.259	53.0	52.1	42.6	33.9	31.4	29.2	25.1	22.9
55-63	1.117	56.3	55.6	43.4	31.6	28.7	26.5	23.9	22.1
86-94	1.018	57.2	56.2	42.9	30.0	27.1	25.1	22.9	21.3

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
0-9	5.1	4.2	0.04	-	1.74	0.13	13	0.8	0.5	0.6	0.4	0.1	0.2	1.3
9-36	4.9	4.2	0.02	-	1.18	0.10	12	0.7	0.5	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.4
36-72	4.8	4.3	0.02	-	0.74	0.07	11	0.5	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1
72-102	5.0	4.5	0.01	-	0.52	0.05	10	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1
102-147	5.7	5.0	0.01	-	0.32	-	-	0.1	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.4	0.4
147-170	5.7	5.2	0.01	-	0.25	-	-	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.2

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 %
0-9	32	4.1	8	6.1	-	12	5
9-36	11	3.5	7	4.1	-	14	6
36-72	6	1.8	3.0	2.6	-	39	6
72-102	6	1.8	3.0	1.8	-	6	0
102-147	22	1.8	3.0	1.1	-	0	22
147-170	18	1.1	2.0	0.9	-	0	18

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
0-9	-	21	-	0.13	0.01	4.52	0.75	-	-	-	0.12
9-36	-	25	-	0.14	0.02	4.73	0.80	-	-	-	0.11
36-72	-	28	-	0.13	0.01	5.11	0.99	-	-	-	0.11
72-102	-	30	-	0.15	0.02	5.38	1.01	-	-	-	0.13
102-147	-	-	-	0.13	0.03	5.78	1.10	-	-	-	0.07
147-170	-	32	-	0.14	0.02	5.46	1.02	-	-	-	0.05

Elemental composition of the clay

Depth (cm)	SiO2 % w/w	Al2O3 % w/w	Fe2O3 % w/w	CaO % w/w	MgO % w/w	K2O % w/w	Na2O % w/w	TiO2 % w/w
72-102	33.4	33.7	16.0	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.04	0.86
102-147	34.4	34.7	16.9	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.03	0.96

Depth (cm)	MnO2 % w/w	P2O5 % w/w	Ign.Loss clay % w/w	Total Clay % w/w	SiO2/Al2O3 mol/mol	SiO2/Fe2O3 mol/mol	SiO2 / R mol/mol	Al2O3/Fe2O3 mol/mol
72-102	0.02	0.16	14.4	98.6	1.7	5.5	1.3	3.3
102-147	0.02	0.16	14.8	102.0	1.7	5.4	1.3	3.2

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
72-102	-	-	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	weak	very strong	-	-	-	-	-
102-147	-	-	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	weak	very strong	-	-	-	-	-

Sand mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Heavy Frac. sand % w/w	K-Feldspar % w/w	Light Fra. sand % w/w	Opaque % w/w	Plagioclase % w/w	Quartz % w/w
102-147	11.2	-	88.8	100	-	100

Profile description

Ap 0-9 cm	(5YR 3.5/3, dry) dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, moist)sandy clay,weak to moderate MF granular to weak to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,common very fine pores and many pores,few charcoal inclusions,clear smooth boundary to,
9-36 cm	(5YR 4.5/4, dry) dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4, moist)sandy clay,weak to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,common many very fine fine pores,few charcoal inclusions,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bo1 36-72 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4, moist)clay,weak fine and medium subangular blocky,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,many very fine fine continuous inped tubular vertical pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bo2 72-102 cm	(5YR 3/5, dry) dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, moist)clay,weak fine and medium subangular blocky,soft very friable sticky plastic,many very fine continuous inped tubular vertical pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bo3 102-147 cm	strong brown (7.5YR 4/6, dry) yellowish red (5YR 4/6, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft very friable sticky plastic,many very fine fine continuous inped tubular vertical pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bo4 147-170 cm	strong brown (7.5YR 4/6, dry) yellowish red (5YR 4/6, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft very friable sticky plastic,many very fine fine continuous inped tubular vertical pores,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	basic gneiss
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	slope wash
Soil Depth	175cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
Weathering Resistance	moderate
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	highly

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	absent
Intensity of the soil erosion type	slight
Soil erosion type	sheet

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	semi-natural grassland, grazed
Status of vegetation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	secondary
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	grassland

Altitude	210m
Physiographic Unit	steep low hill, with flat val.
Physiographic position of the site	lower slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	hill
Slope	32%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	hilly

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Dry From - To	0-170cm
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	slow
Estimated run off (class)	rapid

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)	surface partly slaked, round smooth aggregates
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 Brazil 03: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil BR003: Ferralsols

Classification