Reference soil Brazil 09: Ferralsol

BR009

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 BR009: Ferralsols

Brief field description: Very deep, well drained, dark brown clay soil derived from basalt. The soil has a high organic matter content. From 50-100 cm depth onwards clay nodules (0.5-2 cm) of irregular shape, and white chalcedon in irregular concentric form. The soil is formed in saprolite of basalt of the 'Serra Geral' formation, Jurassic/Cretaceous. Soil cracks considerably when drying out. *) Brazilian classification: Latossolo Bruno Humico Distrofico. Reference soil BR 09 is comparable to soil profile 12 III RCC.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Umbric- Ferralsol (Humic Alumic Clayic)

Alumi-Umbrihumic- Ferralsol (Rhodic)

0-41 cm	umbric horizon
16-250 cm	ferralic horizon

0-41 cm	umbric horizon
16-250 cm	ferralic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Alumi-Humic Ferralsol

Humic Ferralsol

0-41 cm	umbric A horizon
16-250 cm	ferralic B horizon

0-41 cm	umbric A horizon
16-250 cm	oxic B horizon

Local classification:	Latossolo Bruno Húmico distrófico

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Humic Haplustox
USDA-SCS (1975)	Humic Acrohumox udic clayey kaolinitic thermic

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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
0-16	-	0.4	0.6	0.7	1.1	0.2	3.0	7.1	13.8	20.9	76.1
16-41	-	0.6	0.7	0.5	0.7	1.2	3.7	9.9	12.7	22.6	73.8
41-80	-	0.6	0.5	0.3	0.6	1.4	3.4	8.9	12.6	21.5	75.0
80-150	-	1.2	0.9	0.5	0.7	1.5	-	10.0	10.9	20.9	74.3
150-200	-	0.9	0.6	0.4	0.7	1.5	4.1	6.6	15.0	21.6	74.3

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-16	-	113	-	23.0	76.1
15-20	0.858	-	-	-	-
42-47	0.931	-	-	-	-
16-41	-	107	-	30.3	73.8
41-80	-	105	-	32.2	75.0
95-100	1.066	-	-	-	-
80-150	-	106	-	3.4	74.3
150-200	-	105	-	0.0	74.3

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
15-20	0.858	64.1	60.6	54.0	47.5	43.8	41.5	25.8	24.9
42-47	0.931	61.7	59.2	53.4	47.6	45.0	43.5	28.3	27.2
95-100	1.066	58.4	57.6	45.5	51.5	49.6	48.4	33.0	31.4

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
0-16	4.4	3.9	0.06	-	3.69	0.22	17	4.6	4.5	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.8
16-41	4.7	4.0	0.02	-	2.26	0.13	17	3.6	3.8	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.2	0.3
41-80	4.8	4.1	0.01	-	1.85	0.10	18	3.3	3.3	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.7	0.9
80-150	5.0	4.2	0.01	-	1.09	0.08	14	1.9	1.9	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.4
150-200	5.0	4.4	0.01	-	0.53	0.04	13	0.6	0.5	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.3

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 %
0-16	4	17.9	24	13.0	-	25	2
16-41	2	13.5	18	7.9	-	28	1
41-80	8	11.5	15	6.5	-	29	6
80-150	4	9.0	12	3.8	-	21	1
150-200	4	6.7	9	1.9	-	7	1

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
0-16	-	66	-	0.50	0.03	8.55	1.91	-	-	-	0.40
16-41	-	61	-	0.43	0.03	8.94	1.92	-	-	-	0.27
41-80	-	64	-	0.39	0.03	9.08	2.04	-	-	-	0.24
80-150	-	61	-	0.30	0.04	8.68	1.84	-	-	-	0.31
150-200	-	64	-	0.26	0.05	8.93	1.59	-	-	-	0.27

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
80-150	30.4	30.1	20.2	0.00	0.24	0.05	0.04	3.00
150-200	31.1	30.0	19.6	0.01	0.23	0.07	0.02	2.98

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
80-150	0.04	0.43	13.8	98.3	1.7	4.0	1.2	2.3
150-200	0.04	0.68	13.9	98.6	1.8	4.2	1.2	2.4

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
80-150	medium to strong	-	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	strong	-	-	-	-	-
150-200	medium to strong	-	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	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
80-150	12.4	-	87.6	53	-	100

Minerals

Depth (cm)	Brookite % w/w	Chloritic % w/w	Disthene % w/w	Epidote % w/w	Garnet % w/w	Glaucophane % w/w
80-150	-	-	3	-	-	-

Depth (cm)	Grenate % w/w	Grossular % w/w	Muscovite % w/w	Rutile % w/w	Sillimanite % w/w	Spinel % w/w
80-150	-	-	-	10	4	-

Profile description

Ah 0-16 cm	very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2, moist)clay,weak to moderate very fine and fine crumb,very hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
16-41 cm	dark brown (7.5YR 3/2, moist)clay,weak to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky to porous massive,hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
BA 41-80 cm	(7.5YR 3/3, moist)clay,weak to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky to porous massive,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,many very fine pores,irregular argillaceous concretions and irregular siliceous concretions,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bw1 80-150 cm	(7.5YR 3.5/4, moist)clay,weak to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky to porous massive,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,many very fine pores,irregular argillaceous concretions and irregular siliceous concretions,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bw2 150-250 cm	(5YR 3.5/5, moist)clay,weak to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky to porous massive,hard friable sticky plastic,many very fine pores,irregular argillaceous concretions and irregular siliceous concretions,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	basalt
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	basalt of the 'Serra Geral' formation, Jurassic/Cretaceous
Soil Depth	250cm
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	slight
Soil erosion type	sheet

Major crops	maize
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	medium level arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	LANDUSE: Soja and green beans

Altitude	1100m
Physiographic Unit	low 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	9%
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	0-30cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	30-200cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	high
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)	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 09: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil BR009: Ferralsols

Classification