Reference soil Brazil 05: Ferralsol

BR005

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 BR005: Ferralsols

Brief field description: Very deep, well drained, dark red clay soil derived from basic rock; weakly structured. Rather large charcoal particles present at varying depths. Silt fraction is considered to be pseudo-silt (silt/clay ratio waived for soil classification). *) Brazilian classification: Latossolo Roxo acrico. Reference soil BR 05 is comparable to soil profile 7 III RCC.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Umbric-Geric- Ferralsol (Humic Hyperdystric Clayic)

Umbrihumi-Geric- Ferralsol (Rhodic)

0-26 cm	umbric horizon
26-85 cm	ferralic horizon
-	geric

0-26 cm	umbric horizon
26-85 cm	ferralic horizon
-	strongly humic
-	geric

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Geri-Humic Cambisol

Humic Ferralsol

0-26 cm	umbric A horizon
26-250 cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ferralic B horizon
-	geric
-	strongly humic

0-26 cm	umbric A horizon
26-250 cm	oxic B horizon
-	high organic matter content in the B horizon

Local classification:	Latossolo Roxo ácrico

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Rhodic Acrustox
USDA-SCS (1975)	Rhodic Acrorthox ustic clayey oxidic isothermic

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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
0-26	-	0.8	1.2	2.4	6.0	1.2	11.6	7.5	20.4	27.9	60.5
26-50	-	0.6	1.0	1.7	4.9	1.3	9.5	8.0	18.2	26.2	64.4
50-75	-	0.6	1.0	1.7	5.1	1.4	9.8	6.7	21.2	27.9	62.3
75-215	-	0.8	1.0	1.6	5.1	0.4	8.9	18.9	23.8	42.7	48.5
215-250	-	0.9	1.1	1.6	4.3	1.7	9.6	12.9	21.2	34.1	56.4

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-26	-	66	-	27.3	60.5
25-30	1.268	-	-	-	-
26-50	-	63	-	0.0	64.4
47-52	1.169	-	-	-	-
115-120	1.001	-	-	-	-
50-75	-	63	-	2.4	62.3
75-215	-	60	-	24.0	48.5
215-250	-	57	-	0.5	56.4

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
25-30	1.268	55.1	54.3	46.4	38.5	35.7	34.1	30.6	29.6
47-52	1.169	57.8	57.8	51.3	40.1	35.8	33.2	28.3	27.5
115-120	1.001	60.4	60.0	52.0	36.0	31.7	29.0	24.6	24.0

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
0-26	4.7	4.2	0.09	-	2.47	0.18	14	0.8	0.7	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.4
26-50	4.9	4.8	0.02	-	1.15	0.09	13	0.1	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1
50-75	5.4	5.1	0.01	-	0.88	0.05	18	0	0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.3
75-215	5.6	5.5	0.01	-	0.80	0.04	20	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1
215-250	5.9	5.8	0.01	-	0.53	0.04	13	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1

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 %
0-26	5	7.7	13	8.6	-	9	0
26-50	3	3.6	6	4.0	-	0	3
50-75	21	1.4	2.0	3.1	-	0	7
75-215	6	1.6	3.0	2.8	-	0	6
215-250	14	0.7	1.0	1.9	-	0	14

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
0-26	-	59	-	0.34	0.02	9.06	0.76	-	-	-	0.46
26-50	-	60	-	0.37	0.02	10.30	0.82	-	-	-	0.49
50-75	-	-	-	0.35	0.03	10.70	0.83	-	-	-	0.47
75-215	-	71	-	0.34	0.02	9.94	0.82	-	-	-	0.46
215-250	-	77	-	0.28	0.02	10.30	0.77	-	-	-	0.44

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
50-75	22.2	33.2	28.4	0.00	0.01	0.00	0.01	4.10
75-215	10.6	36.9	29.2	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01	4.15

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
50-75	0.10	0.31	18.7	107.0	1.1	2.1	0.7	1.8
75-215	0.08	0.28	19.4	100.6	0.5	1.0	0.3	2.0

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
50-75	-	-	medium to strong	weak	-	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	-	-	-
75-215	-	-	medium to strong	weak	-	medium to strong	medium to 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
75-215	2.1	-	97.9	100	-	100

Profile description

Ap 0-26 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, dry) (2.5YR 3/3, moist)clay,moderate fine and medium subangular blocky and crumb,hard very friable sticky slightly plastic,many medium continuous vesicular pores and interstitial pores,few large charcoal inclusions,gradual smooth boundary to,
26-50 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, dry) (2.5YR 3/3.5, moist)clay,weak very fine subangular blocky to weak medium subangular blocky,slightly hard very friable sticky slightly plastic,many medium continuous vesicular pores and interstitial pores,few large charcoal inclusions,diffuse smooth boundary to,
BA 50-75 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, dry) dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, moist)clay,weak very fine subangular blocky to weak medium subangular blocky,slightly hard very friable sticky slightly plastic,many medium continuous vesicular pores and interstitial pores,few large charcoal inclusions,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bo1 75-215 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, dry) dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,slightly hard very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine continuous vesicular pores and interstitial pores,very few medium soft argillaceous nodules and few large charcoal inclusions,few termite channels,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bo2 215-250 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, dry) dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,slightly hard very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine continuous vesicular pores and interstitial pores,few medium cylindrical soft argillaceous nodules and few large charcoal inclusions,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	fine-grained basic igneous rock
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	slope wash
Soil Depth	250cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
Weathering Resistance	moderate
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	highly

Intensity of the soil erosion type	slight
Soil erosion type	sheet

Major crops	sugar cane
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	medium level arable farming

Altitude	760m
Physiographic Unit	low, very broad hill
Physiographic position of the site	upper slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	pediplain
Slope	2%
Form of the slope surrounding the site	convex
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Dry From - To	0-250cm
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	high
Estimated run off (class)	slow

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
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 05: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil BR005: Ferralsols

Classification