Reference soil Brazil 25: Ferralsol

BR025

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 BR025: Ferralsols

Very deep, well drained dusky red clay; weakly coherent, porous massive structured subsoil. Local classification: Latossolo Roxo Distrofico textura media, bordering to Latossolo Ferrifero. USDA Soil Taxonomy: Haplustox bordering to Acrustox. Soil is slightly moist during description. Moist colours are identical to dry colours. Original vegetation: cerrado. Slides no 9878-9881.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Geric- Ferralsol (Alumic Rhodic)

Alumi-Geric- Ferralsol (Rhodic)

23-450 cm	ferralic horizon
-	geric

0-23 cm	ochric horizon
23-450 cm	ferralic horizon
-	geric

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Rhodi-Ferralic Cambisol

Acric Ferralsol cerrado

0-23 cm	ochric A horizon
23-450 cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ferralic B horizon
- cm	umbric A horizon
-	geric

0-23 cm	ochric A horizon
23-450 cm	oxic B horizon

Local classification:	Latossolo Roxo distrófico epiálico textura media, bordering Latossolo Ferrifero

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Rhodic Acrustox
USDA-SCS (1975)	Rhodic 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
0-5	-	0.2	1.0	15.8	38.7	8.5	64.2	5.5	9.6	15.1	20.8
5-23	-	0.0	0.6	11.7	34.9	9.9	57.1	5.9	9.9	15.8	27.1
23-55	-	0.0	0.5	10.3	31.4	9.9	52.1	6.7	10.6	17.3	30.6
55-100	-	0.1	0.5	9.4	30.7	9.4	50.1	8.1	8.4	16.5	33.4
100-170	-	0.3	0.6	8.9	30.1	9.2	49.1	9.6	8.2	17.8	33.2
180-250	-	0.0	0.6	8.7	31.1	9.7	50.1	10.7	8.4	19.1	31.0
250-350	-	0.1	0.6	7.9	28.1	10.1	46.8	13.0	5.7	18.7	34.5
350-450	-	0.2	0.5	7.3	27.5	9.9	45.4	13.2	10.1	23.3	31.4

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-5	-	-	-	7.4	20.8
5-10	1.361	-	-	-	-
40-45	1.311	-	-	-	-
5-23	-	-	-	9.1	27.1
110-115	1.100	-	-	-	-
23-55	-	-	-	11.3	30.6
55-100	-	40	-	6.8	33.4
100-170	-	40	-	4.0	33.2
180-250	-	-	-	13.5	31.0
250-350	-	-	-	18.4	34.5
350-450	-	-	-	15.9	31.4

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
5-10	1.361	48.8	47.8	41.6	22.9	19.4	16.7	17.8	17.3
40-45	1.311	50.7	49.8	40.7	24.9	21.6	19.5	17.7	17.4
110-115	1.100	55.4	53.5	44.4	24.1	19.9	17.9	16.6	16.0

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
0-5	4.6	4.2	0.11	-	1.17	0.09	13	0.8	0.7	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.4
5-23	5.2	4.3	0.03	-	0.97	0.06	16	0.8	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
23-55	5.1	4.3	0.03	-	0.84	0.05	17	0.6	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
55-100	5.3	4.7	0.68	-	0.64	0.10	6	0.1	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
100-170	5.5	5.3	0.08	-	0.45	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
180-250	5.9	5.8	0.03	-	0.31	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
250-350	5.9	6.2	0.01	-	0.18	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
350-450	6.1	6.2	0.01	-	0.12	-	-	-	-	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 %
0-5	9	4.7	23	4.1	-	15	0
5-23	0	2.5	9	3.4	-	20	0
23-55	0	3.0	10	2.9	-	17	0
55-100	0	1.4	4	2.2	-	0	0
100-170	0	1.2	4	1.6	-	-	0
180-250	0	1.4	5	1.1	-	-	0
250-350	0	0.9	3.0	0.6	-	-	0
350-450	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
0-5	-	22	-	0.20	0.00	5.70	0.30	-	-	-	0.20
5-23	-	28	-	0.20	0.00	6.80	0.30	-	-	-	0.20
23-55	-	30	-	0.20	0.00	7.40	0.40	-	-	-	0.20
55-100	-	34	-	0.20	0.00	7.50	0.40	-	-	-	0.20
100-170	-	-	-	0.20	0.00	8.10	0.40	-	-	-	0.20
180-250	-	-	-	0.10	0.00	7.60	0.30	-	-	-	0.20
250-350	-	-	-	0.10	0.00	8.50	0.30	-	-	-	0.20
350-450	-	43	-	0.10	0.00	8.50	0.30	-	-	-	0.20

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-5	-	weak	medium to strong	weak	-	-	medium to strong	-	-	-	-	-
5-23	-	weak	medium to strong	weak	-	-	medium to strong	very weak	-	-	-	-
23-55	-	weak	medium to strong	weak	-	-	medium to strong	-	-	-	-	-
55-100	-	weak	medium to strong	weak	-	-	weak	-	-	-	-	-
100-170	-	weak	medium to strong	very weak	-	-	weak	-	-	-	-	-
180-250	-	weak	medium to strong	very weak	-	-	weak	-	-	-	-	-
250-350	-	weak	medium to strong	very weak	-	-	weak	-	-	-	-	-
350-450	-	weak	medium to strong	very weak	-	-	weak	-	-	-	-	-

Profile description

Ah 0-5 cm	dusky red (2.5YR 3/2, moist)clay,weak very fine crumb,soft very friable sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,clear smooth boundary to,
5-23 cm	(2.5YR 3/3, moist)clay,weak very fine and fine subangular blocky and weak very fine and fine crumb,soft very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
BA 23-55 cm	dusky red (10R 3/4, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bw1 55-100 cm	dusky red (10R 3/4, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bw2 100-170 cm	dusky red (10R 3/4, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,
Auger 170-450 cm	dusky red (10R 3/4, moist)clay,soft very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	fine-grained basic igneous rock
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	Serra Geral formation, São Bento group; Cretaceous
Soil Depth	450cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
Weathering Resistance	moderate
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	highly

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	absent
Slope stability	stable

Major crops	soya bean
Main type of irrigation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	no irrigation
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	high level arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: Original vegetation cerrado LANDUSE: Major crops:1-soja 2-maize 3-rice
Rotation scheme ; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	continuous crop rotation

Altitude	480m
Physiographic Unit	planatation surface occasionally dissected
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.	plain
Slope	0%
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
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	0-450cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	high
Estimated run off (class)	very slow

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 25: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil BR025: Ferralsols

Classification