Reference soil Georgia 05: Luvisol

GE005

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.

Distribution of Luvisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil GE005: Luvisol

Classification

WRB 2015

Stagnic-Vertic-Ferric- Luvisol

38-101 cm	stagnic horizon
38-101 cm	ferric horizon

Location:

ca. 15 km the west of Kutaisi and close to (3.5 KM West) Ternali, north of maglaki village

More images

Physical

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
0-6	-	1.402	1.934	1.504	2.556	4.66	12.1	13	45.262	58.3	29.554
6-20	-	1.97	2.923	1.525	2.372	3.876	12.7	12.9	44.374	57.3	30.008
20-38	-	4.847	6.158	2.455	2.85	4.587	21	12.7	39.416	52.1	26.889
38-54	-	2.424	1.275	3.062	2.947	4.441	14.1	10.1	32.801	42.9	42.994
54-101	-	3.71	2.463	1.48	2.177	2.78	12.7	6.6	24.48	31.1	56.214
101-155	-	2.124	1.494	1.612	2.039	2.882	10.1	6.6	25.021	31.6	58.268

Chemical characteristics:

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
0-6	4.92	4.25	0.559	0.133	4.484	0.279	16.08	-	0.306	9.008	2.27	0.513	0	11.8
6-20	4.54	3.72	0.359	0	1.776	0.164	10.805	-	2.848	2.839	1.08	0.201	0	4.1
20-38	4.96	3.76	0.115	0	0.948	0.082	11.505	-	2.642	2.656	1.037	0.126	0	3.8
38-54	5.24	3.58	0.05	0.091	0.459	0.063	7.273	-	4.992	6.876	2.301	0.307	0	9.5
54-101	5.25	3.54	0.031	0.08	0.28	0.064	4.319	-	4.399	16.34	4.033	0.31	0	20.6
101-155	7.12	6.52	0.496	0.971	0.094	0.043	2.247	-	-	44.044	5.934	0.284	0.877	51.1

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 %
0-6	62	18.988	-	-	12.1	2	-
6-20	30	13.564	-	-	6.9	41	-
20-38	30	12.455	-	-	6.4	41	-
38-54	49	19.368	-	-	14.5	34	-
54-101	69	30.031	-	-	25	18	-
101-155	100	33.638	-	-	-	-	-

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 %
0-6	62	18.988	-	-	12.1	2	-
6-20	30	13.564	-	-	6.9	41	-
20-38	30	12.455	-	-	6.4	41	-
38-54	49	19.368	-	-	14.5	34	-
54-101	69	30.031	-	-	25	18	-
101-155	100	33.638	-	-	-	-	-

Profile description

Ah1 0-6 cm	dark yellowish brown; granular; slightly plastic; none (0%); high (15-40%); common; none (0%); earthworm channels;
Ah2 6-20 cm	(dark) brown; angular blocky; slightly plastic; none (0%); high (15-40%); common; nodule; none (0%); earthworm channels;
ABc 20-38 cm	yellowish brown; angular blocky; slightly plastic; fine (2-6 mm); high (15-40%); common; nodule; none (0%); earthworm channels;
Bcs1 38-54 cm	yellowish brown; angular blocky; slightly plastic; clay; fine (2-6 mm); medium (5-15%); common; nodule; fine artefacts (2-6 mm); channels; earthworm channels;
Bcs2 54-101 cm	brownish yellow; angular blocky; slightly plastic; clay; medium (6-20 mm); medium (5-15%); very few; nodule; fine artefacts (2-6 mm);
BCi 101-155 cm	brownish yellow; massive; plastic; clay; medium (6-20 mm); low (2-5%); very few; fine artefacts (2-6 mm); planes;
CBi 155-170 cm	fresh or slightly weathered;

Age of the land Surface	holocene (100–10 000 years) anthropogeomorphic: human-made relief modifications, such as terracing of forming hills or walls by early civilizations or during the middle ages or earlier, restriction of flooding by dykes, or surface raising.
Remarks on Parent Materials	Old alluvial deposits?

Intensity of the soil erosion type	slight
Soil erosion type	water erosion or deposition
Classification of total area affected by erosion and deposition	0%-5%

Land improvements ; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	not known
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	selective felling
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	Forest with native srhubs as undergrowth trees of which one is quercus occasionally
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	evergreen broad-leaved forest

Altitude	95m
Hierarchy of major landforms	plain
Physiographic Unit	lower part (and dip) in flat or almost flat terrain
Physiograpy description	Broad valley, between Caucasus mountains
Slope Aspect	north
Form of the slope surrounding the site	straight
Slope gradient %	5.0%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	gently sloping

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	moderately well drained
Drainage class - intergrade; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	somewhat excessively well drained

Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none (0%)
Surface cracking	no cracks observed
Recommended classification of rock outcrops - distance between rock outcrops	none (0%)
Classification of salt characteristics - cover	none (0-2%)

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Reference soil Georgia 05: Luvisol

Characteristics

Reference soil GE005: Luvisol