Reference soil Brazil 15: Ferralsol

BR015

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 BR015: Ferralsols

Brief field description: Very deep, well drained, yellowish brown clay derived from extremely weathered parent material. Soil has a very high porosity in upper two horizons, more than 5/cm2. The soil colour is uniform throughout, there are no oxidation/reduction mottles above and below the water table. Additional information: Boletim tecnico no.53 SNLCS-EMBRAPA (ISRIC library LA-36). Detailed information on vegetation in field archive. U=windspeed is measured at 2m high. Slides no 0781-9793.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Acric-Posic-Gibbsic- Ferralsol (Humic Alumic Clayic)

Gibbsi-Acric- Ferralsol (Humic Posic)

21-350 cm	ferralic horizon
-	geric

0-42 cm	ochric horizon
21-350 cm	ferralic horizon
-	geric
-	strongly humic

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Geri-Haplic Acrisol

Acric Ferralsol cerrado

0-42 cm	ochric A horizon
21-150 cm	argic B horizon
- cm	ferralic B horizon
-	geric

0-42 cm	ochric A horizon
21-350 cm	oxic B horizon

Local classification:	Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Humic Acrustox
USDA-SCS (1975)	Humic Haplustox ustic isohyperthermic

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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	0	0.2	1.1	4.1	8.0	2.3	15.7	8.3	18.5	26.8	57.5
9-21	0	0.2	0.7	3.3	8.7	2.3	15.2	6.3	21.2	27.5	57.3
21-42	0	0.2	0.7	2.7	8.0	2.2	13.8	6.9	13.7	20.6	65.7
42-70	0	0.2	0.7	2.3	6.9	2.2	12.3	6.2	11.3	17.5	70.2
70-105	0	0.2	0.5	2.1	6.5	2.2	11.5	9.5	12.0	21.5	67.0
105-150	0	0.2	0.6	2.1	6.9	2.3	12.1	13.9	15.1	29.0	59.0
170-270	0	0.3	0.4	1.3	5.9	2.1	10.0	12.8	15.0	27.8	62.1
270-370	0	0.2	0.4	1.4	6.0	2.1	10.1	9.6	15.4	25.0	65.0
370-470	0	1.6	2.1	3.4	9.4	4.3	20.8	11.3	13.0	24.3	54.9

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-9	-	-	-	13.8	57.5
10-15	0.874	-	-	-	-
9-21	-	-	-	16.9	57.3
30-35	1.041	-	-	-	-
21-42	-	-	-	25.9	65.7
70-75	0.890	-	-	-	-
145-150	0.832	-	-	-	-
42-70	-	-	-	20.5	70.2
70-105	-	-	-	5.8	67.0
105-150	-	-	-	15.5	59.0
170-270	-	-	-	33.3	62.1
270-370	-	-	-	36.5	65.0
370-470	-	-	-	8.3	54.9

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
10-15	0.874	59.6	56.8	35.0	29.0	26.9	25.3	21.5	21.1
30-35	1.041	55.0	51.4	38.4	33.5	31.7	29.7	25.8	25.2
70-75	0.890	58.9	57.4	44.8	33.9	30.3	27.5	23.4	22.6
145-150	0.832	60.6	58.6	46.7	32.4	28.0	25.3	22.3	21.5

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	4.5	4.2	0.22	-	3.33	0.20	17	0.7	0.7	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.1	1.4
9-21	4.7	4.4	0.07	-	2.51	0.14	18	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.3
21-42	5.5	4.7	0.02	-	1.87	0.01	187	0	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.2
42-70	5.2	5.0	0.01	-	1.43	0.01	143	0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.1
70-105	5.2	5.6	0.02	-	1.03	0.07	15	0	0.1	0.2	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.3
105-150	5.3	6.0	0.01	-	0.46	0.05	9	0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
170-270	5.8	6.5	0.01	-	0.45	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
270-370	5.9	6.5	0.00	-	0.30	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1
370-470	5.8	6.1	0.00	-	0.11	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

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	21	6.7	12	12.0	-	10	1
9-21	9	3.5	6	8.8	-	6	3
21-42	6	3.4	5	6.5	-	3	0
42-70	7	1.4	2.0	5.0	-	7	0
70-105	43	0.7	1.0	3.6	-	14	0
105-150	0	0.2	0	1.6	-	50	0
170-270	0	0.2	0	1.6	-	-	0
270-370	25	0.4	1.0	1.1	-	-	25
370-470	0	0.4	1.0	0.4	-	-	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
0-9	-	47	-	0.40	0.00	2.90	1.00	-	-	-	0.10
9-21	-	52	-	0.40	0.00	2.90	1.10	-	-	-	0.10
21-42	-	56	-	0.40	0.00	3.20	1.10	-	-	-	0.10
42-70	-	59	-	0.40	0.00	3.10	1.00	-	-	-	0.10
70-105	-	67	-	0.40	0.00	3.10	1.00	-	-	-	0.10
105-150	-	-	-	0.30	0.10	3.10	0.80	-	-	-	0.10
170-270	-	-	-	0.30	0.00	3.20	0.60	-	-	-	0.10
270-370	-	-	-	0.20	0.10	3.60	0.50	-	-	-	0.10
370-470	-	47	-	0.10	0.00	4.60	0.30	-	-	-	0.00

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-9	-	medium to strong	strong	medium to strong	-	-	medium to strong	-	-	-	-	-
9-21	-	medium to strong	strong	medium to strong	-	-	medium to strong	-	-	-	-	-
21-42	-	medium to strong	strong	medium to strong	-	-	strong	-	-	-	-	-
42-70	-	medium to strong	strong	medium to strong	-	-	medium to strong	-	-	-	-	-
70-105	-	medium to strong	strong	medium to strong	-	-	medium to strong	-	-	-	-	-
105-150	-	medium to strong	strong	medium to strong	-	-	medium to strong	-	-	-	-	-
170-270	-	medium to strong	strong	medium to strong	-	-	medium to strong	-	-	-	-	-
270-370	-	medium to strong	strong	medium to strong	-	-	strong	-	-	-	-	-
370-470	-	medium to strong	strong	medium to strong	-	-	strong	-	-	-	-	-

Profile description

Ah1 0-9 cm	(dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)clay,weak very fine and fine granular and weak very fine and fine crumb,soft friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,clear smooth boundary to,
Ah2 9-21 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4, moist)clay,weak very fine and fine granular and weak very fine and fine crumb,slightly hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,clear smooth boundary to,
21-42 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6, moist)clay,weak very fine and fine subangular blocky,slightly hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine tubular random pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
BA 42-70 cm	(10YR 5/6.5, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine tubular random pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bw1 70-105 cm	(7.5YR 5/7, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine tubular random pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bw2 105-150 cm	strong brown (7.5YR 5/8, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,clear smooth boundary to,
Bw3 150-160 cm	strong brown (7.5YR 5/6, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine tubular random pores,
Auger 160-250 cm	yellowish red (5YR 5/8, moist)clay,diffuse boundary to,
Auger 250-350 cm	yellowish red (5YR 5/6, moist)clay,common medium faint mottles,diffuse boundary to,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	highly weathered material
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	colluvial
Soil Depth	300cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
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
Slope stability	stable

Major crops	soya bean
Main type of irrigation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	seasonally irrigated
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	high level arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: Cerrado = brazilian wooded savanna LANDUSE: Experimental station
Rotation scheme ; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	continuous crop rotation
Status of vegetation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	primary
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	deciduous woodland

Altitude	1170m
Physiographic Unit	chapada (nearly flat plateau)
Physiographic position of the site	flat
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	plateau
Slope	1%
Form of the slope surrounding the site	straight
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	flat or almost flat

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Dry From - To	0-120cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Depth to groundwater table	320cm
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	120-300cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	high
Estimated run off (class)	rapid
Wet From To	300-470cm

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 Brazil 15: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil BR015: Ferralsols

Classification