Reference soil China 01: Luvisol
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.
Reference soil CN001: Luvisols
Very deep, moderately well drained, reddish brown silty clay loam derived from late Pleistocene loess. The thin topsoil has a very low organic carbon content and a weak to moderate subangular blocky structure. Upon drying a thick, slightly hard crust develops at the surface. The subsoil has moderate prismatic structures and shows common cutans of oriented clay. Most likely the soil has been truncated. MESO- AND MICRORELIEF: slopes have some low (<1m), irregularly spaced escarpments / INFILTRATION: estimated at 1-10 cm/day / SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS: moderate sealing, thickness varies from 0.5 to 1 cm / SOIL FAUNA: ants, worms, beetles and other insects, all kinds of multipieds / LAND USE AND HUMAN INFLUENCES: ploughing with buffalo traction, weed control by hand, use of fertilizers (ammonia and phosphate); large areas of the loess are excavated for brick production / HYDROLOGY: surface drainage almost absent, groundwater level generally below 10m depth / MICROMORPHOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS: thin sections show between 15 and 100 cm depth approx. 1-5% oriented clay.