Reference soil Burkina Faso 01: Plinthosol

BF001

Plinthosols occur mainly in the moist tropical regions in low-lying positions where iron from the soil and adjacent uplands is accumulating.

Characteristics

Soils having either a petroplinthic horizon within 50 cm from the soil surface, or a plinthic horizon which either starts within 50 cm from the soil surface, or within 100 cm from the soil surface if it underlies an albic horizon or a horizon with stagnic properties.

Distribution of Plinthosols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil BF001: Plinthosols

Plinthosol-Lixisol

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Lixic-Stagnic- Plinthosol (Abruptic)

Endoeutri-Stagnic- Plinthosol (Abruptic)

21-120 cm	argic horizon
88-120 cm	plinthic horizon
-	reducing conditions
-	stagnic colour pattern

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Abrupti-Eutric Plinthosol

Gleyic Cambisol petroferric

0-21 cm	ochric A horizon
21-120 cm	argic B horizon
-	abrupt textural change
-	plinthite

0-21 cm	ochric A horizon
56-120 cm	cambic B horizon
-	plinthite

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Plinthic Kandiustalf
USDA-SCS (1975)	Plinthic Paleustalf ustic coarse-loamy kaolinitic isohyperthermic

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
0-21	2	0.9	9.2	22.9	25.2	20.8	79	11.4	3.7	15.1	5.9
21-35	0	1.0	9.0	22.2	24.5	14.8	71.5	13.2	4.5	17.7	10.9
35-56	0	0.5	8.0	21.6	19.9	14.1	64.1	12.1	4.9	17	19.0
56-88	0	1.3	10.4	17.9	14.4	9.7	53.7	11.8	4.5	16.3	30.0
88-120	0	1.8	8.5	14.2	11.5	13.3	49.3	12.6	6.5	19.1	31.5

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-21	1.65	-	-	-	5.9
21-35	1.54	-	-	-	10.9
35-56	-	-	-	-	19.0
56-88	1.53	-	-	-	30.0
88-120	-	-	-	-	31.5

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
0-21	1.65	30.3	28.6	25.2	15.9	11.8	10.5	5.0	4.0
21-35	1.54	36.0	33.0	24.2	15.2	11.1	9.2	6.9	6.0
56-88	1.53	37.3	33.1	25.6	21.6	19.4	17.9	16.0	14.6

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
0-21	4.6	4.3	0.05	-	0.21	-	-	0.1	0	0.8	0.2	0.1	0.0	1.1
21-35	4.8	4.5	0.02	-	0.21	-	-	0.1	0	1.2	0.4	0.1	0.0	1.7
35-56	5.1	4.6	0.01	-	0.17	-	-	0.0	0	1.6	0.6	0.1	0.0	2.3
56-88	5.0	4.5	0.01	-	0.22	-	-	0.1	0	2.2	1.1	0.1	0.0	3.4
88-120	5.2	4.7	0.01	-	0.13	-	-	0.1	0	2.6	1.3	0.1	0.0	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 %
0-21	65	1.7	29	0.7	-	0	0
21-35	71	2.4	22	0.7	-	0	0
35-56	74	3.1	16	0.06	-	0	0
56-88	69	4.9	16	0.8	-	0	0
88-120	80	5.0	16	0.5	-	0	0

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-21	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	medium to strong	very weak to weak	very weak	weak	-	-
35-56	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	strong to very strong	very weak	-	very weak to weak	-	-
88-120	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	very strong	very weak	-	very weak	-	-

Profile description

Ap 0-21 cm	brown (10YR 5/3, dry)slightly gravelly loamy sand,subangular blocky to single grain,loose,highly porous (>60 vol%),very few ferruginous concretions,few termite channels,non calcareous,abrupt wavy boundary to,
E1 21-35 cm	yellowish red (5YR 5/8, dry)loamy sand,subangular blocky to single grain,very friable,highly porous (>60 vol%),very few ferruginous concretions,few termite channels,non calcareous,gradual smooth boundary to,
E2 35-56 cm	yellowish red (5YR 5/8, dry)sandy loam,subangular blocky,very friable,highly porous (>60 vol%),very few ferruginous concretions,few termite channels,non calcareous,gradual smooth boundary to,
EB 56-88 cm	yellowish red (5YR 5/8, dry)sandy clay loam,subangular blocky,friable,few (2-5%) medium faint clear mottles 2.5YR5/8 (red),highly porous (>60 vol%),very few ferruginous concretions,few termite channels,non calcareous,clear wavy boundary to,
Bv 88-120 cm	yellowish red (5YR 5/8, dry)sandy clay loam,massive,extremely firm,many (15-40%) coarse prominent clear mottles 2.5YR6/3 (Invalid Code:),moderately porous (40-60 vol%),continuous vesicular strongly cemented plinthite pans,non calcareous,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	granite
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	Basement complex, Precambrium granite, Dahomeyan Series
Soil Depth	88cm
Texture of parent material	loamy
Texture of parent material (second entry)	loamy
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	highly

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	fallow
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: wooded savannah
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	grassland

Altitude	300m
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.	peneplain
Slope	1%
Slope Aspect	south
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	moderately well
Dry From - To	0-120cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
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	no cracks 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 Burkina Faso 01: Plinthosol

Characteristics

Reference soil BF001: Plinthosols

Classification