Reference soil Italy 12: Cambisol

IT012

Cambisols occur mainly in the temperate and boreal regions of the world, where the soil’s parent material is still young or where low temperatures slow down the processes of soil formation.

Characteristics

Soils having either a cambic horizon (a horizon showing evidence of alteration with respect to the underlying material), or a mollic horizon overlying a subsoil, which has a base saturation of less than 50 percent in some part within 100 cm from the soil surface, or one of the following diagnostic horizons within the specified depth: an andic, vertic, or vitric horizon starting between 25 and 100 cm; a (petro-)plinthic or salic horizon starting between 50 and 100 cm, in absence of loamy sand or coarser textures above these horizons.

Distribution of Cambisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil IT012: Cambisols

INCLUSIONS: pottery and charcoal fragments occur throughout the profile. Discontinuous charcoal layer is present between 85-90 cm.

Classification

WRB 2014

Cambisol

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Fluvi-Chromic Cambisol

Chromic Cambisol

- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
-	fluvic

- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon

Local classification:	Suolo rosso mediterraneo

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Xerochrept xeric very fine mixed (calcareous) thermic

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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	-	0.1	0.6	0.9	1.9	1.3	4.8	4.5	15.2	19.7	75.5
5-15	-	0.1	0.7	1	2.1	2.2	6.1	6	16.8	24.8	71.2
15-40	-	0.1	0.6	1.1	2.4	1.7	5.9	6.2	15.5	21.7	72.4
40-65	-	0.1	0.3	0.8	2.1	1.6	4.9	0	17	17	78.3
65-90	-	0.1	0.3	0.8	2.9	1.9	6	1.8	17.8	19.6	74.3
90-105	-	0.1	0.1	0.4	1.1	1	2.7	0	10.2	10.2	87.1
105-130	-	0	0.1	0.3	0.4	0.2	1	0	5.7	5.7	93.3

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	-	-	-	-	75.5
5-15	-	-	-	-	71.2
15-40	-	-	-	-	72.4
40-65	-	-	-	-	78.3
65-90	-	-	-	-	74.3
90-105	-	-	-	-	87.1
105-130	-	-	-	-	93.3

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	6.3	5.6	0.28	-	4.15	0.38	11	-	-	29.1	1.4	1.3	0.6	32.4
5-15	7.0	6.4	0.26	2.1	2.55	0.27	9	-	-	33.1	1.1	0.7	0.1	35
15-40	7.2	6.3	0.18	1.8	1.93	0.20	10	-	-	31.1	0.8	0.6	0.2	32.7
40-65	7.3	6.4	0.16	2	0.33	0.24	1	-	-	33.7	0.8	0.5	0.1	35.1
65-90	7.3	6.6	0.16	2	1.97	0.22	9	-	-	31.7	0.8	0.6	0.1	33.2
90-105	7.4	6.6	0.2	2.3	1.75	0.21	8	-	-	36.8	0.8	0.6	0.2	38.4
105-130	7.6	6.7	0.2	3.3	1.11	0.15	7	-	-	41.7	0.8	0.6	0.3	43.4

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	100	30.5	23	14	-	-	-
5-15	100	31.5	34	9	-	-	-
15-40	100	28.6	32	7	-	-	-
40-65	100	31.3	40	1.0	-	-	-
65-90	100	29.6	32	7	-	-	-
90-105	100	37.8	39	6	-	-	-
105-130	100	29.6	29	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
0-5	-	-	-	0.3	0.1	4	0.4	-	-	-	0.4
5-15	-	-	-	0.4	0.1	4	0.5	-	-	-	0.4
15-40	-	-	-	0.4	0.1	3.7	0.4	-	-	-	0.4
40-65	-	-	-	0.4	0.1	4	0.5	-	-	-	0.4
65-90	-	-	-	0.4	0.1	3.8	0.5	-	-	-	0.4
90-105	-	-	-	0.4	0.1	3.7	0.4	-	-	-	0.4
105-130	-	-	-	0.4	0.1	3.7	0.4	-	-	-	0.3

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
5-15	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	weak	very weak to weak	very weak to weak	weak
15-40	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	weak	-	very weak to weak	weak
65-90	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	weak	very weak	very weak to weak	very weak to weak
105-130	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	weak	-	very weak to weak	very weak to weak

Profile description

Ah1 0-5 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4, moist)clay,moderate very fine and fine granular,friable sticky plastic,many very fine fine continuous exped interstitial pores,very few fine gravel weathered limestone fragments,few worm channels,abrupt smooth boundary to,
Ah2 5-15 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4, moist)clay,moderate fine subangular blocky,very friable sticky plastic,patchy thin clay and humus on pedfaces cutans,very fine medium very fine continuous exped tubular random pores and common discontinuous inped tubular random pores,few small spherical soft manganiferous nodules,few fine gravel weathered limestone very few pottery fragments,few pedotubules,clear smooth boundary to,
Bw1 15-40 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4, moist)clay,moderate medium subangular blocky,friable sticky plastic,patchy thin clay and sesquioxide on vertical pedfaces cutans,common fine very fine discontinuous inped tubular random pores and few discontinuous exped and inped tubular random pores,medium small spherical soft ferruginous nodules manganiferous,frequent medium gravel weathered limestone few pott./charcoal fragments,few pedotubules,clear smooth boundary to,
2Bw2 40-90 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, moist)clay,moderate to strong fine subangular blocky and moderate to strong medium subangular blocky,friable sticky plastic,patchy thin clay and sesquioxide on pedfaces cutans,few medium discontinuous exped and inped tubular random pores,few small spherical soft ferruginous nodules manganiferous,frequent medium gravel weathered limestone few pott./charcoal fragments,few pedotubules,clear smooth boundary to,
2Bw3 90-105 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, moist)clay,moderate to strong fine angular blocky and moderate to strong medium angular blocky,firm sticky plastic,few medium prominent sharp mottles (2.5YR 4/8),continuous pressure cutans,few very fine discontinuous inped tubular random pores,few small spherical soft ferruginous nodules manganiferous,frequent fine gravel weathered limestone frequent coarse gravel weathered limestone fragments,few pedotubules,clear smooth boundary to,
3Bw4 105-130 cm	(2.5YR 3/3, moist)clay,weak very coarse wedge-shaped angular blocky parting to moderate MF angular blocky,firm sticky plastic,common medium distinct clear mottles (2.5YR 4/6),continuous pressure cutans,very fine fine medium discontinuous inped tubular random pores,very few small spherical soft ferruginous nodules manganiferous,few medium gravel weathered limestone few pott./charcoal fragments,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	limestone
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	colluvial
Remarks on Parent Materials	several depos.phases

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	absent
Intensity of the soil erosion type	moderate
Soil erosion type	gully
Slope stability	stable

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	shrubland, grazed
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	cattle grazing
Status of vegetation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	degraded
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	dwarf shrub

Altitude	320m
Physiographic Unit	alluvial fan
Physiographic position of the site	middle slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	hill
Slope	10%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	hilly

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	moderately well
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	0-130cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	moderate
Estimated run off (class)	medium

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Average size of stone	5
Surface cracking	no cracks observed
Slaking of aggregates by tillage, rainfall or frost (USDA/SCS, 1979)	no surface slaking/crusting observed
Rock outcrop class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none
Evidence of salt; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-saline
Shape of stones (on average)	(sub-)rounded
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	fairly stony

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Reference soil Italy 12: Cambisol

Characteristics

Reference soil IT012: Cambisols

Classification