Reference soil Germany 07:

DE007

Alisols occur in the tropics and subtropics, and in the warm temperate regions of the world in relatively young landscapes. The high level of exchangeable aluminium in these soils is caused by rapid weathering of secondary high-activity clays such as vermiculite and smectite.

Characteristics

Soils having an argic horizon (a subsurface horizon with distinct higher clay content than the overlying horizon), which has a cation exchange capacity of 24 cmolc per kg clay or more, and which starts either within 100 cm from the soil surface, or within 200 cm from the soil surface if the argic horizon is overlain by loamy sand or coarser textures throughout. They have "alic" properties (high content of exchangeable aluminium) in the major part between 25 and 100 cm from the soil surface; moreover, only such diagnostic horizons as an ochric, albic, andic, ferric, nitic, plinthic, or vertic horizon are present.

Distribution of Alisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil DE007: Alisol

An imperfectly drained soil, derived from heterogeneous glacial till. The disturbed Ah2 is mainly coloured 10YR 4/4 and 10YR 4/2 and has irregular pockets of various A material. The Ah1 (rich in humus, eluvial horizon) has some bleached sand grains. In the Bt1 there is a coloured zone (10YR 5/2) with a fringe of strong brown (7,5YR 5/6) along coarse root channels. The main clay illuviation is found at a depth of 75-100 cm. (additional climatic data: insolation (hrs))

Classification

WRB 2014
Alisol

Local classification:	Parabraunerde

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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
0-5	-	-	-	-	-	-	59.6	26.6	6.8	33.4	7
10-40	-	-	-	-	-	-	60.1	19.3	11.5	30.8	9.1
40-55	-	-	-	-	-	-	56.2	20.2	10.9	31.1	12.7
55-75	-	-	-	-	-	-	51	17.7	14.6	32.3	15.7
75-90	-	-	-	-	-	-	49.5	16.7	15.9	32.6	17.9
100-120	-	-	-	-	-	-	52.1	17.1	14.8	31.9	16

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-5	-	-	-	-	7
10-40	-	-	-	-	9.1
40-55	-	-	-	-	12.7
55-75	-	-	-	-	15.7
75-90	-	-	-	-	17.9
100-120	-	-	-	-	16

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
0-5	3.7	3.1	-	-	4.03	0.21	19	4.7	2.7	0.7	2.5	0	0.0	3.2
10-40	4.1	3.7	-	-	0.70	0.06	12	3.7	2.9	0.0	0.1	0	0.0	0.1
40-55	4.3	3.7	-	-	0.26	0.04	7	4.6	3.6	0.0	0.1	0	0.0	0.1
55-75	4.4	3.6	-	-	0.18	0.02	9	5.4	4.2	0.4	0.3	0	0.0	0.7
75-90	4.6	3.5	-	-	0.14	0.02	7	3.8	2.9	1.4	1.0	0.2	0.0	2.6
100-120	4.8	3.4	-	-	0.09	0.02	5	1.4	1.1	2.5	2.1	0.2	0.0	4.8

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 %
0-5	21	15	214	14.1	-	18	-
10-40	1	7.9	87	2.5	-	37	-
40-55	1	9	71	0.9	-	40	-
55-75	6	11.1	71	0.6	-	38	-
75-90	22	11.7	65	0.5	-	25	-
100-120	40	11.9	74	0.3	-	9	-

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
0-5	-	-	-	-	-	0.6	0.1	-	-	-	-
10-40	-	-	-	-	-	0.5	0.1	-	-	-	-
40-55	-	-	-	-	-	0.7	0.1	-	-	-	-
55-75	-	-	-	-	-	0.8	0.1	-	-	-	-
75-90	-	-	-	-	-	0.9	0.1	-	-	-	-
100-120	-	-	-	-	-	0.7	0.1	-	-	-	-

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-5	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak	weak	weak	medium to strong	-
40-55	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	-	weak	strong to very strong	weak to medium
75-90	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	weak	strong to very strong	weak to medium
100-120	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	-	weak	strong to very strong	weak to medium

Profile description

Ah1 0-5 cm	(5YR 2/2, moist)sandy loam,weak fine subangular blocky and platy,friable,clear wavy boundary to,
Ah2 5-24 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4, moist)sandy loam,weak medium subangular blocky,friable,abrupt irregular boundary to,
E 24-56 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4, moist)sandy loam slightly stony,weak medium subangular blocky,friable,few medium faint mottles (10 YR 5/8),abrupt wavy boundary to,
Bt1 56-78 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4, moist)sandy loam,moderate medium subangular blocky,firm,patchy thin clay on pedfaces cutans,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bt2 78-100 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4, moist)loam slightly gravelly,moderate coarse subangular blocky,firm,few fine faint mottles (7.5 YR 5/6),continuous thick clay on pedfaces cutans,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bt3 100- cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4, moist)sandy loam slightly gravelly,moderate coarse subangular blocky,firm,few fine faint mottles (7.5 YR 5/6),broken thin clay on pedfaces cutans,

Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	glacial till
Remarks on Parent Materials	Weichsel till

Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	mainly beeches and oaks, herbs on ground
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	deciduous forest

Altitude	40m
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	moraine
Slope	5%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	imperfect
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed

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Reference soil Germany 07:

Characteristics

Reference soil DE007: Alisol

Classification