Reference soil India 10: Vertisol

IN010

Vertisols occur dominantly in level landscapes under climates with a pronounced dry season. Vast areas are found in Australia, India, northeastern Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia), southern Latin America and the USA.

Characteristics

Soils having a vertic horizon (a clayey subsurface horizon with polished and grooved ped surfaces ("slickensides") or wedge-shaped or parallelepiped structural aggregates) within 100 cm from the soil surface. They have 30 percent or more clay in all horizons to a depth of 100 cm or more, or to a contrasting layer (lithic or paralithic contact, petrocalcic, petroduric or petrogypsic horizons, sedimentary discontinuity, etc.) between 50 and 100 cm, after the upper 20 cm have been mixed. In addition, Vertisols exhibit wide cracks, which open and close periodically.

Distribution of Vertisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil IN010: Vertisols

A moderately deep, very dark gray clayey soil overlying light brownish gray to pale brown loam derived from weathered Deccan Basalt. Cracks extend down to about 65 cm and calcium carbonate concretions increase with depth. Slickensides occur but are not prominent. Permeability is moderate to moderately slow; the groundwater table is at about 6-7 m of depth.

Classification

WRB 2014

Vertisol

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Pelli-Calcic Vertisol

Pellic Vertisol

- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
-	slickensides
-	soft powdery lime

- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
-	slickensides

Local classification:	Saongi clay

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Udic Haplustert
USDA-SCS (1975)	Udic Pellustert ustic clayey over loamy montmorillonitic isohyperthermic

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
0-15	-	0.4	0.8	0.3	2.2	2.7	6.4	18.6	25.8	44.4	49.2
15-35	-	0.2	0.4	0.5	2.1	2.8	6	11.6	27.7	39.3	54.7
35-55	-	0.2	0.4	0.4	1.4	1.9	4.3	10.6	35.6	46.2	49.5
55-66	-	0.3	1	1.1	3.4	3.6	9.4	15.1	34.6	49.7	40.9
66-80	-	0.5	3.1	8.5	19.3	9.7	41.1	16.7	21.9	38.6	20.3
80-120	-	0.9	3.5	11	20.7	11.5	47.6	18.3	19.1	37.4	15

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-15	-	-	-	-	49.2
15-35	-	-	-	-	54.7
35-55	-	-	-	-	49.5
55-66	-	-	-	-	40.9
66-80	-	-	-	-	20.3
80-120	-	-	-	-	15

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
0-15	7.5	6.0	0.31	-	0.30	0.03	10	-	-	50.3	7.0	0.4	0.3	58
15-35	7.7	6.2	0.27	-	0.30	0.03	10	-	-	53.2	8.8	0.4	0.2	62.6
35-55	7.7	6.1	0.49	-	0.27	0.03	9	-	-	47.8	11.3	0.3	1.0	60.4
55-66	7.8	6.5	0.43	8.1	0.27	0.02	14	-	-	52.8	12.1	0.3	0.3	65.5
66-80	8.0	6.5	0.27	12.9	0.03	0.01	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
80-120	8.1	6.7	0.26	13.8	0.10	0.01	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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 %
0-15	95	60.9	124	1.1	-	-	-
15-35	110	57	104	1.1	-	-	-
35-55	91	66.1	134	0.9	-	-	-
55-66	94	69.6	170	0.9	-	-	-
66-80	-	-	-	0	-	-	-
80-120	-	-	-	0.4	-	-	-

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
0-15	-	-	-	-	-	2.17	0.21	-	-	-	-
15-35	-	-	-	-	-	2	0.2	-	-	-	-
35-55	-	-	-	-	-	1.97	0.2	-	-	-	-
55-66	-	-	-	-	-	1.57	0.15	-	-	-	-
66-80	-	-	-	-	-	1.21	0.11	-	-	-	-
80-120	-	-	-	-	-	1.11	0.12	-	-	-	-

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-15	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	weak to medium	very weak to weak	very strong	-
15-35	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	medium to strong	very weak to weak	strong to very strong	-
35-55	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	medium to strong	very weak to weak	strong to very strong	-
55-66	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	weak to medium	very weak to weak	very strong	-
66-80	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak	-	weak to medium	very weak	very strong	-
80-120	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak	-	weak to medium	very weak	very strong	-

Profile description

Apk 0-15 cm	very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2, dry) very dark grey (10YR 3/1, moist)clay,strong coarse subangular blocky,very hard firm sticky plastic,common micro pores slightly porous (<40 vol%),few irregular calcareous concretions,clear smooth boundary to,
Bki 15-35 cm	very dark grey (10YR 3/1, moist)clay,strong coarse subangular blocky,hard firm sticky,patchy slickensides on pedfaces cutans,few micro pores slightly porous (<40 vol%),clear smooth boundary to,
Bkci1 35-55 cm	very dark grey (10YR 3/1, moist)clay,moderate medium angular blocky,hard firm sticky plastic,broken slickensides on pedfaces cutans,slightly porous (<40 vol%),few irregular calcareous concretions,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bkci2 55-66 cm	very dark grey (10YR 3/1, moist)clay,moderate medium angular blocky,hard firm sticky plastic,continuous slickensides on pedfaces cutans,slightly porous (<40 vol%),few irregular calcareous concretions,diffuse boundary to,
BCkc 66-80 cm	light brownish grey (10YR 6/2, moist)sandy clay loam,moderate medium angular blocky,slightly hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,moderately porous (40-60 vol%),frequent medium irregular calcareous concretions,clear smooth boundary to,
Ckc 80-120 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, moist)massive,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	fine-grained basic igneous rock
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	weathered basalt
Soil Depth	120cm

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	not apparent
Intensity of the soil erosion type	slight
Intensity of the soil erosion type (second entry)	moderate
Soil erosion type	rill
Soil erosion type (second entry)	rill
Slope stability	stable

Major crops	cotton
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	Mung beans, cotton, paddy

Altitude	300m
Physiographic Unit	gently sloping land
Physiographic position of the site	slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	plateau
Slope	2%
Slope Aspect	north-east
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	moderately well
Dry From - To	0-15cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
(Estimated) maximum (lower) depth to groundwater table	700cm
Depth to groundwater table	600cm
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	groundwater table observed
(Estimated) minimum (upper) depth to groundwater table	600cm
Moist From - To	15-120cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	slow
Estimated run off (class)	medium

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	slightly alkaline
Surface cracking	small cracks (width less than 1 cm, or depth less than 50 cm)
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

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Reference soil India 10: Vertisol

Characteristics

Reference soil IN010: Vertisols

Classification