Reference soil China 48: Ferralsol

CN048

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 CN048: Ferralsols

PROFILE DESCRIPTION : Very deep, well drained, red clay developed from alluvium and colluvium derived from limestone/shale. GENERAL SOIL INFORMATION: the profile is a typical example of a Haplic yellow soil developed on Quaternary red clay. The colour, however, is yellowish red and is quite different compared with CN047, an Argillic yellow soil on shale. In both cases the soil is found on lower hills being part of the Pingba basin. The basin is surrounded by high, steep limestone mountains.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Haplic- Ferralsol (Alumic Clayic)

Alumic- Ferralsol

10-250 cm

ferralic horizon

0-38 cm	ochric horizon
10-250 cm	ferralic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Alumi-Ferralic Cambisol

Ferralic Cambisol

0-38 cm	ochric A horizon
10-250 cm	argic B horizon
- cm	argic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
-	ferralic

0-38 cm	ochric A horizon
10-250 cm	cambic B horizon
-	ferralic

Local classification:	Haplic yellow soil; Hapli-Perudic Ferrosol
Common name:	Acid red clay

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Dystrochrept perudic very fine mixed mesic

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
0-10	-	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.8	5.6	19.0	24.6	74.9
10-38	-	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.4	0.2	1	4.2	17.3	21.5	77.6
38-110	-	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.5	0.4	1.7	13.2	10.7	23.9	74.3
110-250	-	0.3	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.5	2.1	4.3	10.3	14.6	83.5

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-10	1.174	-	-	-	74.9
10-38	1.148	-	-	-	77.6
38-110	1.114	-	-	-	74.3
110-250	-	-	-	-	83.5

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
0-10	1.174	54.8	53.8	52.8	49.2	47.2	45.1	37.7	35.6
10-38	1.148	58.6	58.2	57.1	56.1	55.4	54.9	41.4	38.8
38-110	1.114	60.8	59.9	59.2	58.6	58.2	57.7	40.8	38.8

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
0-10	4.7	4.0	0.06	-	1.74	0.15	12	5.5	3.7	2.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	3.2
10-38	4.9	4.2	0.01	-	0.52	0.08	7	3.7	2.6	1.1	0.4	0.1	0.2	1.8
38-110	4.9	4.2	0.01	-	0.29	0.07	4	3.1	2.4	0.8	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.9
110-250	5.0	4.2	0.01	-	0.26	0.06	4	4.2	3.1	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.1

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 %
0-10	32	10.0	13	6.1	-	37	3
10-38	19	9.6	12	1.8	-	27	2
38-110	8	10.7	14	1.0	-	22	0
110-250	0	20.8	25	0.9	-	15	0

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
0-10	-	0.7	1.6	-	-	-	-	-	-
10-38	-	0.0	0.6	-	-	-	-	-	-
38-110	-	0.0	1.7	-	-	-	-	-	-
110-250	-	0.0	1.7	-	-	-	-	-	-

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-10	medium to strong	-	medium to strong	weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak	-	-	-	-
10-38	medium to strong	-	medium to strong	weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak	-	-	-	-
38-110	medium to strong	-	medium to strong	weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak	-	-	-	-
110-250	medium to strong	-	medium to strong	weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak	-	-	-	-

Profile description

Ah 0-10 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/6, moist)clay sphagnum highly,weak to moderate fine and medium granular to weak to moderate fine subangular blocky,friable,common very fine inped pores and many inped pores highly porous (>60 vol%),frequent termite channels,clear smooth boundary to,
10-38 cm	yellowish brown (10YR 5/6, moist)clay,moderate medium subangular blocky and moderate medium columnar,firm,patchy clay and humus in root channels and pores cutans,many very fine inped pores highly porous (>60 vol%),frequent termite channels,clear wavy boundary to,
Bw1 38-110 cm	red (2.5YR 4/8, moist)clay,moderate to strong medium columnar,firm,many very fine inped pores and few inped pores highly porous (>60 vol%),very frequent termite channels,gradual wavy boundary to,
Bw2 110-250 cm	red (2.5YR 5/8, moist)clay,moderate medium columnar to moderate medium subangular blocky,firm,patchy humus in root channels and pores cutans,many very fine inped pores and many inped pores highly porous (>60 vol%),few termite channels,diffuse boundary to,
250- cm	clayvery few fine gravel weathered red sandstone ? fragments,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	limestone/shale
Kind 2 (parent material) (second entry); Parker (eds), 1984	limestone/shale
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	fluvial
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material (second entry)	colluvial
Remarks on Parent Materials	Red Quaternary clay
Soil Depth	250cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
Texture of parent material (second entry)	clayey

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	absent
Intensity of the soil erosion type	slight
Soil erosion type	sheet
Slope stability	stable

Major crops	oil/protein crops
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	low level mixed farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	LANDUSE: Oil-tea with cattle grazing

Altitude	1260m
Physiographic Unit	lower hill, Pingba Basin
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.	low hill
Slope	4%
Slope Aspect	north-north-west
Form of the slope surrounding the site	straight
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	0-150cm
Estimated run off (class)	medium

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Average size of stone	20
Surface cracking	no cracks observed
Slaking of aggregates by tillage, rainfall or frost (USDA/SCS, 1979)	no surface slaking/crusting observed
Microrelief Height: variation in height	25
Micro relief type: small-scale differences in relief in the direct vicinity of the site (FAO, 1986)	knobs
Microrelief pattern	isolated
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)	angular blocky
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	very few stones

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Reference soil China 48: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil CN048: Ferralsols

Classification