Reference soil Italy 16: Andosol

IT016

Andosols occur throughout the world where volcanic activity is common, especially in the circum-Pacific region and along the mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Characteristics

Soils with a vitric or andic horizon (slightly to moderately weathered horizons in pyroclastic deposits dominated by short-range-order minerals, notably allophane and imogolite) starting within 25 cm from the soil surface. In addition, they may have a histic, fulvic, melanic, mollic, umbric, ochric, duric, or cambic horizon. Other diagnostic horizons (unless buried deeper than 50 cm by volcanic deposits) are absent.

Distribution of Andosols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil IT016: Andosols

Ah2 contains few charcoal fragments

Classification

WRB 2014

Andosol

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Umbrihumi-Vitric Andosol

Humic Andosol

- cm	umbric A horizon
-	andic

- cm	umbric A horizon
-	exchange complex dominated by amorphous material

Local classification:	Andosuolo

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Acrudoxic Hapludand
USDA-SCS (1975)	Acrudoxic Dystrandept udic mixed mesic

More images

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
0-4	-	3.1	15	14.8	9.6	4.2	46.7	4.1	22.5	26.6	26.6
4-29	-	3.6	19.2	17.5	9	3.3	52.6	7.5	25.1	32.6	14.8
29-47	-	11.6	21	18.4	6.8	3.7	61.5	30.1	5.9	36	2.5
47-66	-	11	22.9	15.7	7.6	3.5	60.7	25.5	6.4	31.9	7.4
66-85	-	15.1	25.2	19.9	7.5	3.3	71	16.4	9	25.4	3.7
85-110	-	19.8	31.2	18.9	9.1	3.3	82.3	9.7	6.2	15.9	1.9

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-4	-	-	-	-	26.6
4-29	0.497	-	-	-	14.8
29-47	0.584	-	-	-	2.5
47-66	0.567	-	-	-	7.4
66-85	0.584	-	-	-	3.7
85-110	-	-	-	-	1.9

Other physical data

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	pF 0 % v/v	pF 1.0 % v/v	pF 1.5 % v/v	pF 2.0 % v/v	pF 2.3 % v/v	pF 2.7 % v/v	pF 3.4 % v/v	pF 4.2 % v/v
4-29	0.497	63.6	60.4	52.1	35.6	29.9	25.6	22	20.6
29-47	0.584	59.4	53	38.7	32.5	29.9	26.7	30.3	30.6
47-66	0.567	61.8	55	39.6	33.2	30.1	26.4	27.6	28.9
66-85	0.584	56.3	47.5	32.4	27.4	25.4	21.8	23.9	23

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
0-4	4.6	4.3	1.42	-	14.5	1.10	13	3.5	2.5	8.2	1.0	0.7	0.0	9.9
4-29	4.9	4.7	0.15	-	5.85	0.47	12	1.3	1.1	0.2	0.1	0.3	0.0	0.6
29-47	5.6	5.4	0.03	-	1.42	0.08	18	0.2	0	0.2	0.0	0.3	0.0	0.5
47-66	5.7	5.5	0.03	-	1.08	0.06	18	0.1	0	0.2	0.1	0.5	0.0	0.8
66-85	5.9	5.4	0.03	-	0.53	0.03	18	0.1	0	0.2	0.1	0.6	0.0	0.9
85-110	5.9	5.3	0.03	-	0.63	0.04	16	0.1	0	0.2	0.1	0.6	0.0	0.9

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 %
0-4	15	66.6	250	50.8	-	4	-
4-29	2	39.2	265	20.5	-	3	-
29-47	1	37.1	-	5	-	0	-
47-66	2	35.4	478	3.8	-	0	-
66-85	3	32.9	889	1.9	-	0	-
85-110	3	29.2	-	2.2	-	0	-

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
0-4	10.1	95	-	4.11	1.21	1.34	0.07	0.07	1.16	-	0.27
4-29	10.8	98	-	5.13	1.28	1.79	0.13	0.07	1.04	-	0.33
29-47	10.4	98	-	5.99	3.85	2.18	0.01	0.07	0.37	-	0.35
47-66	10.2	98	-	6.07	4.68	2.15	0.01	0.07	0.28	-	0.34
66-85	9.7	98	-	5.11	3.84	1.67	0.02	0.07	0.22	-	0.28
85-110	9.7	97	-	4.89	3.58	1.56	0.01	0.07	0.22	-	0.27

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
0-4	15.7	1.78	4.5	3.55	0.94	-	32.4	0.53
4-29	20.9	1.74	5.5	5.17	1.05	-	43.4	0.64
29-47	25.6	1.98	6.2	5.48	0.73	-	46.1	0.71
47-66	25.4	1.97	6.4	5.25	0.74	-	46.2	0.73
66-85	24.0	2.31	6	6.12	0.79	-	49.7	0.68
85-110	23.1	2.38	5.7	6.23	0.91	-	49.8	0.65

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
0-4	5.5	38.1	0.11	0.41	3.5	19.2	3.0
4-29	6.0	20.7	0.15	0.40	3.5	21.0	3.0
29-47	6.5	11.0	0.17	0.29	3.1	19.8	2.6
47-66	6.2	10.4	0.18	0.28	3.1	19.2	2.7
66-85	6.3	8.0	0.17	0.27	3.5	22.1	3.0
85-110	6.4	7.7	0.17	0.25	3.7	23.3	3.2

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-4	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	very weak to weak	weak	very weak to weak	-	-
4-29	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	-	very weak to weak	-	-

Profile description

Oi 0-3 cm	leaves slightlyabrupt smooth boundary to,
Ah1 3-7 cm	very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2, dry) black (10YR 2/1, moist)silty clay loam,weak fine crumb and weak medium crumb,very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine discontinuous exped interstitial pores highly porous (>60 vol%),few channels,abrupt smooth boundary to,
Ah2 7-32 cm	greyish brown (10YR 5/2, dry) very dark brown (10YR 2/2, moist)clay loam,porous massive,very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,common very fine discontinuous interstitial pores and tubular random pores highly porous (>60 vol%),few channels,clear irregular boundary to,
Bw 32-50 cm	yellow (10YR 7/6, dry) strong brown (7.5YR 5/6, moist)clay loam gravelly,weak medium angular blocky and weak coarse angular blocky,very friable non sticky non plastic,broken moderately thick clay and sesquioxide on pedfaces cutans,common very fine fine discontinuous interstitial pores highly porous (>60 vol%),frequent stones volcanic ash fragments,few channels,clear smooth boundary to,
BC1 50-69 cm	yellow (10YR 7/6, dry) strong brown (7.5YR 4/6, moist)sandy loam gravelly,very weak coarse subangular blocky,very friable non sticky non plastic,patchy thin clay and sesquioxide Description sand cutans,many very fine fine discontinuous interstitial pores highly porous (>60 vol%),very frequent stones volcanic ash fragments,clear smooth boundary to,
BC2 69-120 cm	yellow (10YR 7/6, dry) strong brown (7.5YR 4/6, moist)sandy loam gravelly,very weak coarse subangular blocky,loose non sticky non plastic,patchy thin clay and sesquioxide Description sand cutans,many very fine fine discontinuous interstitial pores highly porous (>60 vol%),very frequent stones volcanic ash fragments,

Depth1	500cm
Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	tuff
Kind 2 (parent material) (second entry); Parker (eds), 1984	limestone
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	ejecta ash
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material (second entry)	solid rock
Remarks on Parent Materials	tuff of holocene age
Soil Depth	200cm

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	absent
Slope stability	stable

Main type of irrigation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	no irrigation
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	(semi-)natural vegetation
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	Beech for firewood production; herbs
Rotation scheme ; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	crop rotation scheme not relevant
Status of vegetation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	secondary
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	deciduous forest

Altitude	1150m
Physiographic Unit	slope
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.	mountain
Slope	19%
Form of the slope surrounding the site	concave
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	steeply dissected

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	0-120cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	high
Estimated run off (class)	rapid

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Surface cracking	no cracks observed
Slaking of aggregates by tillage, rainfall or frost (USDA/SCS, 1979)	no surface slaking/crusting observed
Microrelief Height: variation in height	0
Microrelief pattern	none
Rock outcrop class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	little rocky
Evidence of salt; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-saline
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	very few stones

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Reference soil Italy 16: Andosol

Characteristics

Reference soil IT016: Andosols

Classification