Reference soil Brazil 21: Luvisol

BR021

Luvisols occur mainly in temperate regions, particularly in areas with a Mediterranean-type of climate.

Characteristics

Soils having an argic horizon (a subsurface horizon with a distinct higher clay content than the overlying horizon) with a cation exchange capacity equal to or more than 24 cmolc per kg clay throughout.

Distribution of Luvisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil BR021: Luvisols

Moderately deep, well drained, brown clay soil derived from gneiss; topsoil in sandy loam, transition to weathered gneiss at 70cm depth. C-horizon: multicoloured banded rotten gneissrock. Stones at the soil surface and in the CB-horizon are rounded quartz stones with a desert varnish. Soil moisture regime is ustic bordering to Aridic. Landscape: moderately dissected denudational plain with a few inselbergs. Vegetation (Brasilian name): Caatinga Hiperxerofolia. Land use: near the site some arable farming, maize, cotton with supplementary irrigation. Additional information: SNLCS-Embrapa Boletim tecnico no 15. Slides no 9832, 9833.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Haplic- Luvisol (Hypereutric Clayic Chromic)

Chromic- Luvisol

27-70 cm

argic horizon

0-27 cm	ochric horizon
27-70 cm	argic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Orthi-Chromic Luvisol

Chromic Luvisol

0-27 cm	ochric A horizon
27-70 cm	argic B horizon
- cm	argic B horizon

0-27 cm	ochric A horizon
27-70 cm	argillic B horizon

Local classification:	Bruno não cálcico

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Typic Haplustalf
USDA-SCS (1975)	Typic Argiustoll ustic clayey thermic

More images

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	7	6.2	11.3	15.4	18.1	10.6	61.6	8.2	10.8	19.0	19.3
9-27	-	4.1	10.4	15.6	19.2	9.4	58.7	6.9	11.1	18.0	23.3
27-60	-	3.5	8.7	12.9	15.3	7.4	47.8	5.8	10.1	15.9	36.5
60-70	-	1.8	7.6	11.1	13.3	5.9	39.7	5.5	10.4	15.9	44.3
70-110	-	4.0	13.6	22.8	22.1	8.6	71.1	5.2	9.0	14.2	14.6

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
15-20	1.479	-	-	-	-
0-9	-	-	-	10.0	19.3
35-40	1.562	-	-	-	-
9-27	-	-	-	13.1	23.3
60-65	1.516	-	-	-	-
27-60	-	-	-	17.7	36.5
60-70	-	-	-	15.2	44.3
70-110	-	-	-	7.0	14.6

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	1.479	42.9	38.7	32.5	25.5	23.0	20.1	14.6	13.5
35-40	1.562	41.7	38.7	33.3	28.6	26.0	24.2	20.6	19.4
60-65	1.516	45.0	42.6	39.4	36.1	33.6	31.6	26.0	24.2

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	7.2	5.4	0.42	1.3	1.16	0.14	8	-	-	0.0	3.2	0.0	0.9	4.1
9-27	7.1	5.5	0.08	1.3	0.72	0.09	8	-	-	6.0	3.3	0.0	0.5	9.8
27-60	5.8	4.8	0.46	1.2	0.28	-	-	0	0	9.6	4.8	0.3	0.0	14.7
60-70	6.2	4.6	0.10	1.7	0.19	-	-	0	0	8.8	14.0	0.3	0.1	23.2
70-110	6.4	4.3	0.04	1.6	0.04	-	-	0	0	5.7	7.6	0.2	0.2	13.7

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	33	12.5	65	4.1	-	-	7
9-27	101	9.7	42	2.5	-	-	5
27-60	140	10.5	29	1.0	-	0	0
60-70	157	14.8	33	0.7	-	0	1
70-110	129	10.6	73	0.1	-	0	2

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	-	-	-	0.10	0.00	1.30	0.10	-	-	-	0.10
9-27	-	-	-	0.10	0.00	1.60	0.20	-	-	-	0.10
27-60	-	-	-	0.10	0.00	2.60	0.20	-	-	-	0.10
60-70	-	-	-	0.10	0.00	2.90	0.30	-	-	-	0.10
70-110	-	-	-	0.00	0.00	1.20	0.10	-	-	-	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	very strong	-	-	medium to strong	-
9-27	-	-	-	medium to strong	-	-	strong	very strong	-	-	weak	-
27-60	-	-	-	medium to strong	-	-	strong	very strong	-	-	weak	-
60-70	-	-	-	weak	-	-	strong	strong	-	-	medium to strong	-
70-110	-	-	-	weak	-	-	strong	medium to strong	-	-	very strong	-

Profile description

Ah 0-9 cm	dark brown (10YR 3/3, moist)sandy clay,weak medium subangular blocky,soft friable sticky plastic,many very fine fine pores,clear smooth boundary to,
9-27 cm	(dark) brown (7.5YR 4/4, moist)clay,moderate fine and medium subangular blocky,slightly hard friable very sticky very plastic,many very fine fine pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bt 27-60 cm	reddish brown (5YR 4/4, moist)clay,moderate fine and medium subangular blocky,slightly hard very friable very sticky very plastic,many very fine fine pores,abrupt wavy boundary to,
CB 60-70 cm	yellowish brown (10YR 5/4, moist)clay slightly stony,moderate medium angular blocky,slightly hard friable sticky very plastic,broken moderately thick pressure on pedfaces cutans,few very fine pores,abrupt wavy boundary to,
C 70-110 cm	sandy loamdominant fine gravel strongly weathered gneiss fragments,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	basic gneiss
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	Pre-Cambrian biotite gneiss
Soil Depth	70cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
Weathering Resistance	moderate
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	partially or moderately

Intensity of the soil erosion type	slight
Soil erosion type	sheet

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	shrubland, grazed
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: Caatinga hiperxerófolia LANDUSE: Near the site some arable farming, maize and cotton with supplementary irrigation
Status of vegetation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	degraded
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	extremely xeromorphic shrub

Altitude	510m
Physiographic Unit	moderately dissected denudational plain with a few inselbergs
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.	plain
Slope	3%
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
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	0-110cm
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
Average size of stone	8
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
Shape of stones (on average)	(sub-)rounded
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	fairly stony

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Reference soil Brazil 21: Luvisol

Characteristics

Reference soil BR021: Luvisols

Classification