Reference soil China 10: Cambisol

CN010

Cambisols occur mainly in the temperate and boreal regions of the world, where the soil’s parent material is still young or where low temperatures slow down the processes of soil formation.

Characteristics

Soils having either a cambic horizon (a horizon showing evidence of alteration with respect to the underlying material), or a mollic horizon overlying a subsoil, which has a base saturation of less than 50 percent in some part within 100 cm from the soil surface, or one of the following diagnostic horizons within the specified depth: an andic, vertic, or vitric horizon starting between 25 and 100 cm; a (petro-)plinthic or salic horizon starting between 50 and 100 cm, in absence of loamy sand or coarser textures above these horizons.

Distribution of Cambisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil CN010: Cambisols

PROFILE DESCRIPTION : Very deep, well drained, yellowish brown silt derived from loess. It is dominantly porous massive structured tending to weak subangular blocky. The topsoil is low in organic carbon and has weak to moderately developed crumb and subangular blocky strictures. In places a weak thin crust (0-0.5cm) is present due to slacking and mosses/lichens. The subsoil has few white speckles od CaCO3, gypsum or more soluble salts. Irregularly, vertical planes of weakness are present between 62 and 155 cm depth, however, no clear macrostructure can be detected. In one area of the profile between 100 and 110 cm depth a slightly darker coloured horizon is present with a few small charcoal particles (buried A horizon). GEOLOGY: loess of Pleistocene age / GROUNDWATER: at about 150 m depth in nearby well / LANDFORM: weakly tilted undulating intermontane plain with a few isolated small hills on one of which the profile is located / SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS: bare soil surfaces have sealed appearance, often with spots of tiny mosses and lichens / VEGETATION: 20-50% grass/herb vegetation; species seen nearby site: Artemisia spp., Plantago lanceolata, Lasiagrostis splendens, Stipa spp., Agropyrum cristatum; soft soil crust is covered thinly by mosses/lichens. Slide nos. of the ISRIC collection: 7513 - 7529. Thin section nos. of the ISRIC collection: 3278-3282.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Haplic- Cambisol (Calcaric Sodic Siltic)

Sodi-Aridic- Cambisol (Gypsiric Calcaric)

25-155 cm	cambic horizon
-	calcaric

0-25 cm	ochric horizon
25-155 cm	cambic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Sodi-Calcaric Cambisol

Haplic Xerosol sodic

0-25 cm	ochric A horizon
25-155 cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon

0-25 cm	ochric A horizon
25-155 cm	cambic B horizon

Local classification:	Haplic grey desert soil; Hapli-Ustic Cambosol
Common name:	Sodic yellow-brown earth

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Camborthid aridic coarse-silty mixed (calcareous) frigid

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
0-25	-	0.4	0.1	0.1	0.1	4.6	5.3	45.7	33.6	79.3	15.5
25-62	-	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	4.5	4.9	44.1	36.1	80.2	14.8
62-101	-	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	4.3	4.6	42.9	36.9	79.8	15.7
101-150	-	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	5.3	5.6	47.9	32.7	80.6	13.8
150-190	-	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.1	5.4	5.7	44.8	35.9	80.7	13.7

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-25	-	-	-	-	15.5
5-10	1.184	-	-	-	-
43-48	1.142	-	-	-	-
25-62	-	-	-	-	14.8
62-101	-	-	-	-	15.7
105-110	1.214	-	-	-	-
101-150	-	-	-	-	13.8
175-180	1.193	-	-	-	-
150-190	-	-	-	-	13.7

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	1.184	56.9	56.0	53.4	44.3	34.9	24.1	10.2	9.5
43-48	1.142	59.4	57.8	55.2	46.7	34.7	22.2	10.6	10.1
105-110	1.214	57.1	56.0	51.9	45.9	39.6	26.4	10.6	10.5
175-180	1.193	57.2	56.6	53.5	48.7	43.1	31.6	10.7	9.6

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
0-25	8.3	7.8	0.30	3.5	0.96	0.09	11	-	-	43.1	2.5	0.4	0.4	46.4
25-62	8.3	8.0	0.27	3.3	0.24	0.03	8	-	-	67.2	5.7	0.2	3.8	76.9
62-101	8.9	8.6	0.25	3.1	0.20	-	-	-	-	38.5	6.1	0.2	9.3	54.1
101-150	8.9	8.7	0.28	3.6	0.17	-	-	-	-	51.2	6.3	0.2	8.9	66.6
150-190	9.1	8.8	0.21	3.1	0.18	-	-	-	-	39.9	6.0	0.2	9.3	55.4

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 %
0-25	-	6.9	45	3.4	-	-	6
25-62	-	4.8	32	0.8	-	-	79
62-101	-	4.7	30	0.7	-	-	100
101-150	-	3.9	28	0.6	-	-	100
150-190	-	4.2	31	0.6	-	-	100

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
0-25	-	-	-	0.00	0.00	0.60	0.00	-	-	-	0.10
25-62	-	-	-	0.00	0.00	0.60	0.00	-	-	-	0.10
62-101	-	-	-	0.00	0.00	0.70	0.00	-	-	-	0.10
101-150	-	-	-	0.00	0.00	0.60	0.00	-	-	-	0.10
150-190	-	-	-	0.00	0.00	0.70	0.00	-	-	-	0.10

Depth (cm)	CaSO4.2H2O %	P Bray mg/kg	P Olsen mg/kg	pH CaCl2	clay_noncarbonate % w/w	clay_carbonate % w/w	phosphorus4 mg/kg	phosphorus1 mg/kg	total_sulfur % w/w
0-25	0.05	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
25-62	0.65	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
62-101	0.18	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
101-150	0.39	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
150-190	0.02	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Profile description

Ah 0-25 cm	(10YR 7/3.5, dry) yellowish brown (10YR 5/4, moist)silt loam,weak to moderate fine and medium subangular blocky and weak to moderate fine and medium crumb,soft very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,gradual wavy boundary to,
B 25-62 cm	(10YR 5.5/4, dry) yellowish brown (10YR 5/4, moist)silt loam,weak coarse subangular blocky to weakly coherent porous massive,slightly hard very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,few unspecified soft segregations,diffuse smooth boundary to,
By 62-100 cm	light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4, moist)silt loam,weak coarse subangular blocky to weakly coherent porous massive,slightly hard very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine pores,clear wavy boundary to,
Bky 100-155 cm	light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4, moist)silt loam,weak coarse subangular blocky to weakly coherent porous massive,soft very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,very few irregular calcareous concretions,diffuse smooth boundary to,
155-190 cm	(10YR 7/3.5, dry) light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4, moist)silt loam,weak coarse subangular blocky to weakly coherent porous massive,soft very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	sediment, unconsolidated
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	eolian loess
Remarks on Parent Materials	primary loess of Pleistocene age
Soil Depth	190cm
Texture of parent material	silty
Texture of parent material (second entry)	silty

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	shrubland, grazed
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: 20-50% grass/herb vegetation; species seen nearby site: Artemisia spp., Plantago lanceolata, Lasiagrostis splendens, Stipa spp., Agropyrum cristatum; soft soil crust is covered thinly by mosses/lichen LANDUSE: No agriculture, incidentally grazed
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	grassland

Altitude	1950m
Physiographic Unit	weakly tilted undulating intermontane plain with a few isolated small hills
Physiographic position of the site	middle slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	plain
Slope	25%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Dry From - To	0-120cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Depth to groundwater table	15000cm
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	120-190cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	moderate
Estimated run off (class)	rapid

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)	surface partly slaked, round smooth aggregates
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

You are here

Reference soil China 10: Cambisol

Characteristics

Reference soil CN010: Cambisols

Classification