Reference soil Italy 11: Eutric Vertisol

IT011

Distribution of Vertisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

A dark reddish brown, clayey soil showing vertic properties (wedge-shaped aggregates, large slickensides) increasing with depth. The topsoil (0-20cm), which consists of recent colluvial deposits derived from weathering products of limestone, mixed with volcanic minerals, shows a high biological activity (animal burrows, chambers of worms, ants, etc.) and few (very) coarse biopores. Hydromorphy is weakly expressed by coarse, yellowish red mottles along large pedfaces. Throughout the soil many bluish black iron-manganese and clay-iron cutans occur on pedfaces and in pores. LANDFORM: complex slope from hilly or steeply dissected limestone mountains, rolling towards level karst basin. MICRORELIEF: mole mounds. HUMAN INFLUENCE: locally terracing. REFERENCE: Spaargaren O.C. 1979. Weathering and soil formation in a limestone area near Pastena (Fr., Italy). Ph.D. thesis University of Amsterdam. 191 p. Wageningen. PROFILE DESCRIPTION: Ap2: broken thin iron-manganese cutans on some pedfaces. 2Bt: few small slickensides; (nearly) continuous thin iron-manganese cutans covering pedfaces and along pores. 2Btg1: wedgeshaped aggregates; few to common medium slickensides; broken thin iron-manganese cutans along pores and on pedfaces. 2Btg2: wedgeshaped aggregates; broken thin iron-manganese cutans on pedfaces and along pores. 2Btg3: wedgeshaped aggregates; common large slickensides; broken thin iron-manganese cutans along pores and on pedfaces.

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988:

FAO-UNESCO 1974:

Orthi-

Eutric Vertisol

Chromic Vertisol

0-0 cm	cambic B horizon
0-0 cm	ochric A horizon
	slickensides
	vertic properties

0-0 cm	cambic B horizon
0-0 cm	ochric A horizon
	slickensides
	vertic properties

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)

Chromic

Haploxerert

USDA-SCS (1975)

Chromic

Chromoxerert

fine

mixed

thermic

Classification (other)

Vertisuolo

Location:

Lazio, Frosinone, 4km NE of Pastena, on slope at S-side of 'La Fossa'

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Physical

Particle size distribution:

Depth (cm)		Gravel (%)	Very Coarse Sand (%)	Coarse Sand (%)	Medium Sand (%)	Fine Sand (%)	Very Fine Sand (%)	Total Sand (%)	Coarse Silt (%)	Fine Silt (%)	Total Silt (%)	Clay (%)
0-7	:	-	0	0.4	0.6	2.5	2.6	6.1	9.1	24.6	33.7	60.3
7-20	:	-	0	0.2	0.8	2.8	1.9	5.7	8.1	23.2	31.3	63
20-47	:	-	0	0.4	1	3.6	3	8	8.8	29	37.8	54.3
47-65	:	-	0	0.2	0.9	3.8	2.4	7.3	9.2	27.9	37.1	55.5
65-85	:	-	0.1	0.3	1	4.1	3.4	8.9	8.5	29	37.5	53.7
85-110	:	-	0.1	0.2	1.2	5	3.1	9.6	8.8	28.5	37.3	53.3
110-130	:	-	0	0.3	0.8	3.6	3	7.7	9.1	28.4	37.5	54.8
130-150	:	-	0.1	0.2	0.8	4.3	2.8	8.2	9.1	29.1	38.2	53.5
150-175	:	-	0	0.3	0.8	3.8	2.8	7.7	8.5	28.7	37.2	54.9

Other physical data

Depth (cm)		Bulk Density (kg/dm³)	Spec. Surf. Area (m2/g)	COLE (cm/cm)	Water Disp. Clay (%)	Clay (%)
0-7	:	-	-	-	-	60.3
7-20	:	-	-	-	-	63
20-47	:	-	-	-	-	54.3
47-65	:	-	-	-	-	55.5
65-85	:	-	-	-	-	53.7
85-110	:	-	-	-	-	53.3
110-130	:	-	-	-	-	54.8
130-150	:	-	-	-	-	53.5
150-175	:	-	-	-	-	54.9

Chemical characteristics:

Depth (cm)		pH H2O	pH KCl	EC 1 : 2.5 (mS/cm)	CaCO3 (%)	Org. C (%)	Org. N (%)	C / N	Exch. Acid (cmol/kg)	Ca (cmol/kg)	Mg (cmol/kg)	K (cmol/kg)	Na (cmol/kg)	Sum Cations (cmol/kg)
0-7	:	5.4	4.5	0.16	-	1.94	0.21	9	0.2	10.5	2.0	0.6	0.2	13.3
7-20	:	5.4	4.4	0.11	-	1.20	0.16	8	0.2	8.0	1.0	0.2	0.2	9.4
20-47	:	5.5	4.6	0.06	-	0.20	0.07	3	0.1	8.2	1.0	0.3	0.1	9.6
47-65	:	5.4	4.5	0.06	-	0.19	0.07	3	0.1	7.6	1.4	0.4	0.1	9.5
65-85	:	5.5	4.5	0.05	-	0.19	-	-	0.2	7.5	1.3	0.4	0.1	9.3
85-110	:	5.4	4.5	0.05	-	0.11	-	-	0.1	10.2	1.5	0.5	0.2	12.4
110-130	:	5.4	4.5	0.05	-	0.10	-	-	0.2	7.7	1.6	0.5	0.3	10.1
130-150	:	5.4	4.5	0.05	-	0.13	-	-	0.2	7.9	1.7	0.5	0.6	10.7
150-175	:	5.4	4.6	0.05	-	0.14	-	-	0.1	8.9	2.1	0.5	0.4	11.9

Depth (cm)		CEC Soil (cmol/kg)	CEC Clay (cmol/kg)	CEC Org (cmol/kg)	ECEC (cmol/kg)	Base sat. (%)	ESP (%)
0-7	:	20.3	23	7	-	66	-
7-20	:	19.3	25	4	-	49	-
20-47	:	15.3	27	1.0	-	63	-
47-65	:	14	24	1.0	-	68	-
65-85	:	14	25	1.0	-	66	-
85-110	:	15.3	28	0	-	81	-
110-130	:	15	27	0	-	67	-
130-150	:	15.9	29	0	-	67	-
150-175	:	15.9	28	0	-	75	-

Depth (cm)		pH NaF	P Retention (%)	ODOE	Melanic Index	Fe o (wt%)	Al o (wt%)	Si o (wt%)	Fe d (wt%)	Al d (wt%)	Fe p (wt%)	Al p (wt%)	C p (wt%)
0-7	:	-	-	-	-	0.7	0.3	0	4.4	0.4	-	-	-
7-20	:	-	-	-	-	0.6	0.4	0	4.3	0.4	-	-	-
20-47	:	-	-	-	-	0.9	0.3	0.1	4.5	0.4	-	-	-
47-65	:	-	-	-	-	0.7	0.3	0	4.7	0.4	-	-	-
65-85	:	-	-	-	-	0.7	0.3	0	4.5	0.4	-	-	-
85-110	:	-	-	-	-	0.7	0.3	0.1	4.3	0.4	-	-	-
110-130	:	-	-	-	-	0.7	0.3	0.1	4.3	0.4	-	-	-
130-150	:	-	-	-	-	0.7	0.3	0.1	0.5	0.1	-	-	-
150-175	:	-	-	-	-	0.7	0.3	0.1	0.7	0.1	-	-	-

Clay mineralogy:

Depth (cm)		Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Vermiculite	Chlorite	Smec	Halloysite	Mixed layer	Quar	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Hematite
0-7	:	medium to strong	weak to medium	very weak to weak	-	weak	-	weak	very weak	-	-	-	-
7-20	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20-47	:	medium to strong	weak to medium	weak	-	-	-	weak	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-
47-65	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
65-85	:	medium to strong	weak to medium	weak	-	very weak to weak	-	weak	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-
85-110	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
110-130	:	medium to strong	weak to medium	weak	-	very weak to weak	-	weak	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-
130-150	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
150-175	:	medium to strong	weak to medium	very weak to weak	-	weak	-	weak	-	-	-	-	-

Profile description:

Ap1 0-7 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, moist), clay, moderate fine crumb and moderate medium crumb, very friable sticky plastic, many fine medium continuous exped interstitial pores and common discontinuous inped tubular random pores, very few medium gravel weathered limestone very few pottery fragments, very frequent channels, abrupt smooth boundary to,
Ap2 7-20 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, moist), clay, moderate medium subangular blocky and moderate fine crumb, friable sticky plastic, broken thin clay and humus in root channels and pores cutans, many fine medium continuous exped and inped tubular random pores, very few small spherical hard manganiferous nodules, very few medium gravel weathered limestone fragments, very frequent channels, abrupt smooth boundary to,
2Bt 20-47 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4, moist), clay, moderate to strong medium angular blocky and moderate to strong coarse angular blocky, firm sticky plastic, few coarse distinct clear mottles (5YR 4/6), broken thick clay and sesquioxide on pedfaces cutans, many very fine fine discontinuous inped tubular random pores and few discontinuous exped tubular horizontal pores, very few small spherical soft manganiferous nodules, few pedotubules, clear smooth boundary to,
2Btg1 47-85 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4, moist), clay, moderate to strong coarse and very coarse wedge-shaped angular blocky, firm sticky plastic, common coarse distinct clear mottles (5YR 4/6) and few medium distinct mottles (2.5YR 4/6), broken thick clay and sesquioxide in root channels and pores cutans, common very fine fine discontinuous inped interstitial random pores and common fine discontinuous inped tubular random pores, few, gradual smooth boundary to,
2Btg2 85-110 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4, moist), clay, strong coarse and very coarse wedge-shaped angular blocky, very firm sticky plastic, common coarse distinct clear mottles (5YR 5/6) and few medium distinct mottles (2.5YR 3/4), patchy thick clay and sesquioxide on pedfaces cutans, common very fine fine discontinuous inped interstitial pores, diffuse smooth boundary to,
2Btg3 110-150 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4, moist), clay, strong very coarse wedge-shaped angular blocky, very firm sticky plastic, few coarse distinct clear mottles (5YR 5/6) and few medium distinct mottles (2.5YR 3/4), broken thin clay and sesquioxide in root channels and pores cutans, common very fine fine discontinuous inped interstitial pores and few discontinuous inped tubular oblique pores

The main parent rock/ material over which the soil has been formed (1st entry)	igneous rock
Mode of Accumulation or deposition of parent material (1st entry)	colluvial
Texture of parent material (1st entry)	clayey
Depth1 of lithological boundary	cm
The main parent rock/ material over which the soil has been formed (2nd entry)	igneous rock
Mode of Accumulation or deposition of parent material (2nd entry)	residual material
Texture of parent material (2nd entry)	clayey
Resistance against weathering (solid rock) (2nd entry)
Soil Depth; depth to which roots can easily penetrate throughout the year	150 cm
Remarks on Parent Materials	admix. volcanic min.

Soil erosion type (1st entry)	gully
Soil erosion type (2nd entry)	rill
Intensity of the soil erosion type (1st entry)	moderate
Intensity of the soil erosion type (2nd entry)	slight
Occurrence of soil aggradation	not apparent
Slope Stability	stable

Current land use at the site	semi-natural grassland, grazed
Major crops
Main type of irrigation
Rotation scheme
Vegetation Type;The natural vegetation at the site	short grassland
Status of vegetation	modified
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	grass with scattered oaks; small cattle

The altitude of the soil profile relative to mean sea level, specified in meters	315 m asl
Regional landform	hill
Topography of the surrounding country	hilly
Physiographic Unit in the immediate surrounding of the site	complex slope
The slope refers to the inclination of the land immediately surrounding the site. The measured or estimated slope angle is specified to the nearest per cent	22 %
The physiographic position of the site where the profile is located	slope
Form of the slope surrounding the site	concave
Slope Aspect of the site

Depth of groundwater table	cm
Groundwater Top	cm
Groundwater Bottom	cm
Kind of groundwater table	no groundwater table observed
Top Stagnating Layer	cm
Bottom Stagnating Layer	cm
Runoff	rapid
Flooding frequency	never
Estimated permeablity (class) of least permeable part of the profile	slow
Drainage Class	imperfect
To Drainage Class
Moisture conditions of the profile: dry from -to	cm
Moisture conditions of the profile: moist from -to	0-130 cm
Wet From - To	130-150 cm

Microrelief type: small-scale differences in relief in the direct vicinity of the site
Microrelief Height
Rockiness	none
Stoniness	very few stones
Average size of stones
Shape of stones (on average)
Cracks	small cracks (width less than 1 cm, or depth less than 50 cm)
Slaking of aggregates by tillage, rainfall or frost	no surface slaking/crusting observed
Evidence of salt	non-saline
Evidence of alkali	non-alkaline

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Reference soil Italy 11: Eutric Vertisol