Reference soil Italy 04: Chromic Luvisol

IT004

Distribution of Luvisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil IT004: Chromic Luvisols

Short field description: A very deep, well drained, dark reddish brown, clayey profile; The 16 cm Ap-horizon is underlain by a compound B, divided in a IIB2 and a IIIB2. The transition to the IVR, a highly fractured phyllite (Palaeozoic), is abrupt. Horizonation is fairly well defined, (sub)angular blocky structures of varying grade and size occur throughout the solum till 126 cm depth. The bulk of roots is confined to the topmost horizon; the pH (Hellige) is neutral throughout. The pH is determined according to Hellige. The soil is commonly encountered on plateaux, observed between the major drainage channels in the area, which were also classified as remnant of marine terraces. Its altitude varies between 90-335 m. above sealevel. The parent material is mainly marine deposit of varying textural composition. Under a mediterranean climate an evergreen oak forest (*) could be found. However original vegetation will be destroyed through human interference, resulting in pasture with scattered olive trees or arable land for cereal production. The soils are associated with regosols, vertisols, rankers, lithosols, brown rankers, brown lessives, brown forest soils, and alluvial soils. Reference: Heilmann, 1972,'On the formation of red soils in the lower crati basin (S. Italy)', thesis, Reference number CAL 14, Utrecht

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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
0-10	4	4.3	6.7	9.1	7.6	5.4	33.1	13.9	25.3	39.2	27.8
25-45	2	2.9	5.5	7.6	6.4	4.6	27	7.6	18.3	25.9	47.1
80-100	5	2.8	5.7	7.4	5.2	3.3	24.4	6.3	12.6	18.9	56.8
110-120	11	12.5	8.2	9.5	5.5	2.5	38.2	5	8.9	13.9	48
130-140	24	18.5	9.9	9.5	6.1	2.8	46.8	5.5	10.7	16.2	37

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	-	-	-	-	27.8
25-45	-	-	-	-	47.1
80-100	-	-	-	-	56.8
110-120	-	-	-	-	48
130-140	-	-	-	-	37

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	6.9	6.0	-	-	1.35	0.14	10	-	-	7.4	0.8	2.0	0.0	10.2
25-45	7.1	5.9	-	-	0.32	0.06	5	-	-	8.3	0.7	0.9	0.1	10
80-100	7.2	6.0	-	-	0.25	0.05	5	-	-	10.3	1.1	0.5	0.0	11.9
110-120	7.2	6.0	-	-	0.21	0.04	5	-	-	9.1	1.5	0.3	0.0	10.9
130-140	7.2	5.9	-	-	0.16	0.03	5	-	-	7.7	1.4	0.2	0.3	9.6

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	69	14.7	53	4.7	-	-	-
25-45	68	14.8	31	1.1	-	-	-
80-100	72	16.6	29	0.9	-	-	-
110-120	76	14.4	30	0.7	-	-	-
130-140	81	11.8	32	0.6	-	-	-

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
0-10	-	-	-	0.17	-	2.51	0.14	0.03	0.04	-	0.34
25-45	-	-	-	0.21	-	3.17	0.24	0.01	0.03	-	0.41
80-100	-	-	-	0.23	-	3.36	0.21	0.03	0.09	-	0.39
110-120	-	-	-	0.16	-	2.64	0.1	0.01	0.02	-	0.21
130-140	-	-	-	0.12	-	1.94	0.08	0.01	0.02	-	0.14

Elemental composition of the soil

Depth (cm)	Al2O3 % w/w	CaO % w/w	Fe2O3 % w/w	K2O % w/w	MgO % w/w	Na2O % w/w	SiO2 % w/w	TiO2 % w/w
0-10	14.7	0.47	5.4	2.61	0.6	-	68.2	0.95
25-45	17.2	0.37	6.1	2.51	0.68	-	65.9	1
80-100	18.9	0.35	6.1	2.21	0.62	-	63.4	0.88
110-120	18.0	0.24	4.2	2.56	0.47	-	67.8	0.56
130-140	19.3	0.28	5.2	2.30	0.49	-	65.4	0.67

Depth (cm)	Al2O3/Fe2O3 mol/mol	LOI % w/w	MnO2 % w/w	P2O5 % w/w	SiO2 / Al2O3 mol/mol	SiO2/Fe2O3 mol/mol	SiO2 / R mol/mol
0-10	4.3	6.4	0.32	0.11	7.9	33.6	6.4
25-45	4.4	5.8	0.27	0.09	6.5	28.8	5.3
80-100	4.9	6.8	0.26	0.08	5.7	27.7	4.7
110-120	6.7	5.7	0.07	0.04	6.4	43.0	5.6
130-140	5.8	6.4	0.10	0.05	5.8	33.5	4.9

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-10	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	very weak to weak	-	-
25-45	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	very weak to weak	-	-
80-100	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	-	very weak to weak	-	-
110-120	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	-	very weak to weak	-	-
130-140	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	-	very weak to weak	-	-

Profile description

Ap 0-10 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4, dry) (10YR 3/3.5, moist)clay,strong very coarse subangular blocky parting to weak fine and medium subangular blocky,hard,clear smooth boundary to,
2Bt1 10-62 cm	dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, dry) (2.5YR 2/4, moist)clay,weak medium prismatic parting to strong medium angular blocky,very hard,continuous clay cutans,very few fine gravel fragments fragments,gradual wavy boundary to,
2Bt2 62-110 cm	dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, dry) dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, moist)clay,strong medium and coarse prismatic parting to strong medium and coarse angular blocky,very hard,few medium distinct mottles,continuous clay cutans,Mn fragments,clear smooth boundary to,
3Bt3 110-126 cm	(2.5YR 3/5, dry) dusky red (10R 3/4, moist)clay slightly gravelly,moderate fine angular blocky,very hard,continuous clay cutans,clear smooth boundary to,
3Bt4 126-141 cm	(2.5YR 3/5, dry) dusky red (10R 3/4, moist)clay gravelly,massive,very hard,patchy clay cutans,abrupt wavy boundary to,
3Bt4 126-141 cm	dominant chl.phyllite fragments

Depth1	141cm
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	marine sediments
Remarks on Parent Materials	underlain b phyllite
Soil Depth	141cm
Texture of parent material (second entry)	gravelly

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	cultivated pasture
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	Ploughed for rainfed agriculture

Altitude	325m
Physiographic Unit	flat interfluve
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	marine terrace
Slope	1%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	rolling

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Dry From - To	0-141cm
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed

Microrelief pattern	none
Rock outcrop class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none

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Reference soil Italy 04: Chromic Luvisol

Reference soil IT004: Chromic Luvisols

Classification