Reference soil Brazil 07: Nitisol

BR007

Nitisols occur mainly in the tropics and subtropics, as well as in areas with a Mediterranean type of climate. They are associated with basic rocks (e.g. basalts) or hard limestone or dolomite deposits.

Characteristics

Soils having a nitic horizon (a horizon with pronounced nut-shaped soil structure and significant amount of active iron) within 100 cm from the soil surface, and gradual to diffuse horizon boundaries between the surface and the underlying horizons. They do not have a ferric, plinthic or vertic horizon within 100 cm from the soil surface.

Distribution of Nitisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil BR007: Nitisols

Brief field description: Very deep, well drained, dark reddish brown clay soil, derived from ultra basic rock; well structured throughout. The soil is transitional to a Mollisol. *) Brazilian classification: Terra Roxa Estruturada eutrofica. Land use: a wide range of agriculture crops: soja, maize, wheat,cotton, beans, ramin(malvaceae,fibre), peanuts, sunflower, rice, tea. In addition horticulture, fruticulture (grapes, apples) and In addition cattle breeding. Reference soil BR 07 is comparable to soil profile BR 6 ISCW.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Lixic-Mollic-Ferralic- Nitisol (Hypereutric Rhodic)

Humi-Mollic- Nitisol (Rhodic Ferralic)

0-32 cm	mollic horizon
32-75 cm	argic horizon
75-175 cm	nitic horizon
-	ferralic

0-32 cm	mollic horizon
32-275 cm	argic horizon
75-150 cm	nitic horizon
-	ferralic

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Niti-Luvic Phaeozem

Luvic Phaeozem

0-32 cm	mollic A horizon
32-275 cm	argic B horizon
- cm	argic B horizon
-	nitic

0-32 cm	mollic A horizon
32-275 cm	argillic B horizon
-	ferric

Local classification:	Terra Roxa Estruturada eutrófica

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Kandic Paleustalf
USDA-SCS (1975)	Kandic Paleudalf 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
0-15	-	0.7	1.0	1.3	3.2	1.0	7.2	9.4	28.1	37.5	55.4
15-32	-	0.5	0.8	1.1	2.9	1.3	6.6	9.5	27.0	36.5	56.9
32-75	-	0.5	0.4	0.5	1.2	0.6	3.2	4.5	13.8	18.3	78.5
75-125	-	0.5	0.3	0.4	1.1	0.4	-	6.2	9.6	15.8	81.6
125-175	-	0.3	0.4	0.4	1.1	0.6	2.8	3.4	11.6	15.0	82.2
200-275	-	0.4	0.6	0.4	1.3	0.1	-	6.7	13.5	20.2	76.9

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-15	-	83	-	24.6	55.4
6-11	1.299	-	-	-	-
15-32	-	81	-	37.4	56.9
32-37	1.180	-	-	-	-
90-95	1.170	-	-	-	-
32-75	-	109	-	29.8	78.5
75-125	-	113	-	3.9	81.6
125-175	-	114	-	0.0	82.2
200-275	-	110	-	0.0	76.9

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
6-11	1.299	55.3	53.3	49.4	45.6	43.7	42.3	34.4	32.2
32-37	1.180	59.4	56.3	48.5	44.8	43.4	42.2	40.4	37.6
90-95	1.170	58.3	56.8	50.4	47.3	46.0	44.9	41.5	38.9

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
0-15	6.2	5.2	0.21	-	2.84	0.28	12	0	0	10.4	2.2	1.1	0.0	13.7
15-32	6.4	5.3	0.13	-	1.62	0.18	9	0	0.1	8.0	1.5	0.5	0.0	10.0
32-75	6.8	5.4	0.06	1.0	0.92	0.10	9	0	0	6.9	1.7	0.7	0.0	9.3
75-125	6.9	5.6	0.05	1.0	0.60	0.05	12	0	0	5.8	2.1	0.9	0.1	8.9
125-175	6.8	5.5	0.05	1.0	0.43	-	-	0	0	4.6	2.1	0.6	0.0	7.3
200-275	6.1	4.8	0.01	-	0.19	-	-	0	0	3.1	1.2	0.1	0.0	4.4

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 %
0-15	77	17.7	32	9.9	-	0	0
15-32	82	12.2	21	5.7	-	1	0
32-75	78	11.9	15	3.2	-	0	0
75-125	83	10.7	13	2.1	-	0	1
125-175	81	9.0	11	1.5	-	0	0
200-275	57	7.7	10	0.7	-	0	0

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
0-15	-	29	-	0.20	0.04	8.09	0.54	-	-	-	0.64
15-32	-	35	-	0.18	0.04	8.19	0.53	-	-	-	0.67
32-75	-	49	-	0.26	0.05	8.08	0.64	-	-	-	0.84
75-125	-	56	-	0.31	0.04	7.84	0.62	-	-	-	0.88
125-175	-	-	-	0.36	0.05	7.81	0.61	-	-	-	0.87
200-275	-	56	-	0.23	0.05	7.74	0.61	-	-	-	0.88

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
75-125	32.6	29.0	22.2	0.01	0.28	0.09	0.04	2.59
125-175	31.9	28.6	22.3	0.01	0.28	0.07	0.06	2.52

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
75-125	0.10	0.34	11.6	98.8	1.9	3.9	1.3	2.0
125-175	0.09	0.32	11.8	98.0	1.9	3.8	1.3	2.0

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
75-125	-	-	weak	weak	-	weak	strong	-	-	-	-	-
125-175	-	-	weak	weak	-	weak	strong	-	-	-	-	-

Profile description

Ah 0-15 cm	(2.5YR 3/3, dry) dusky red (2.5YR 3/2, moist)clay,moderate to strong fine and medium subangular blocky to crumb,hard firm sticky plastic,many micro pores,clear smooth boundary to,
15-32 cm	(2.5YR 3/3, moist)clay,strong fine subangular blocky to strong coarse angular blocky,hard firm sticky plastic,broken moderately thick clay cutans,common micro pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bt1 32-75 cm	dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, moist)clay,strong fine subangular blocky to strong coarse angular blocky,hard firm sticky plastic,continuous moderately thick clay cutans,common micro pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bt2 75-150 cm	dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, moist)clay,strong fine subangular blocky to strong coarse angular blocky,hard firm sticky plastic,continuous thick clay cutans,common very fine pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bt3 150-275 cm	dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, moist)clay,weak to moderate fine subangular blocky coarse,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,broken thick clay cutans,many very fine pores,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	fine-grained ultrabasic igneous rock
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	diabase, Upper Trias
Soil Depth	275cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
Weathering Resistance	poor
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	highly

Intensity of the soil erosion type	moderate
Soil erosion type	sheet
Soil erosion type (second entry)	gully

Major crops	annual crops
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	high level arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	LANDUSE: Crops grown: soja, maize, wheat, cotton, beans, ramin (malvaceae, fibre), peanuts, sunflower, rice, tea. In addition horticulture, silviculture (grapes, apples) and cattle breeding.

Altitude	480m
Physiographic Unit	low, broad hill
Physiographic position of the site	middle slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	pediplain
Slope	15%
Form of the slope surrounding the site	convex
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	rolling

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Dry From - To	0-50cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	50-275cm
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	small cracks (width less than 1 cm, or depth less than 50 cm)
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)	little rocky
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 07: Nitisol

Characteristics

Reference soil BR007: Nitisols

Classification