Reference soil Italy 17: Calcisol

IT017

Calcisols occur in regions with distinct dry seasons, as well as in dry areas where carbonate-rich groundwater comes near the surface.

Characteristics

Soils having a (petro-)calcic horizon (horizon with accumulation of secondary calcium carbonates). In addition, they have no diagnostic horizons other than an ochric or cambic horizon, a calcareous argic horizon, or a gypsic horizon beneath a petrocalcic horizon.

Distribution of Calcisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil IT017: Calcisols

The profile shows a greyish yellow soil of clay loam texture with a well-developed calcic horizon below the A-horizon. In this subsurface horizon cutans, probably calcitans, occur. With depth vertic properties (intersecting slickensides) increase. At least part of the vertic properties are of gegenetic origin. banded sandy inclusions reflect the original stratification of the parent material. Parent material: shales with inclusions of Miocene age ('argillic caotiche'). Human influence: quarrying. References: Spaargaren, O., 1979, 'Weathering and Soil Formation in a Limestone Area near Pastena (Fr., Italy)', University of Amsterdam, no.30 (Fys. Geogr. en Bod. Lab.). Profile is similar to profile Sp/166 of Spaargaren (1979).

Classification

WRB 2014

Calcisol

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Verti-Haplic Calcisol phreatic

Calcic Cambisol phreatic

- cm	calcic horizon
- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
-	vertic

- cm	calcic horizon
- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon

Local classification:	Suolo bruno calcareo

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Xerochrept xeric fine-silty mixed (calcareous) thermic

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
0-7	-	1.2	1.4	2.6	10.3	7.4	22.9	13.8	30.9	44.7	32.5
7-29	-	0.4	0.8	1.8	7	8	18	14.6	32.8	47.4	34.6
29-39	-	0.8	1	0.7	2.2	3	7.7	12.2	38.3	50.5	41.9
39-60	-	0.4	1.2	3.1	25.7	13.4	43.8	16.8	22.3	39.1	17.3
60-90	-	0.7	0.4	0.6	4.4	4.7	10.8	14.5	35	49.5	39.7
90-120	-	0.1	0.1	0.2	2.2	4.3	6.9	12.7	37.1	49.8	43.3
120-150	-	0.1	0.1	0.2	1.5	2.3	4.2	14.5	37.2	51.7	44.1
-	-	0	0	0.1	3.4	20	23.5	24.6	25.6	50.2	26.3

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-7	-	-	-	-	32.5
7-29	-	-	-	-	34.6
29-39	-	-	-	-	41.9
39-60	-	-	-	-	17.3
60-90	-	-	-	-	39.7
90-120	-	-	-	-	43.3
120-150	-	-	-	-	44.1
-	-	-	-	-	26.3

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
0-7	7.6	7.2	0.27	31.5	1.63	0.17	10	-	-	47.1	1.4	0.5	0.2	49.2
7-29	7.9	7.2	0.24	31	1.07	0.13	8	-	-	49.0	1.2	0.4	0.1	50.7
29-39	8.2	7.2	0.19	32.4	0.27	0.05	5	-	-	22.1	1.9	0.3	0.1	24.4
39-60	8.4	7.5	0.13	28.9	0.13	0.02	7	-	-	45.1	0.8	0.2	0.1	46.2
60-90	8.3	7.2	0.18	28.8	0.15	-	-	-	-	39.6	4.0	0.3	0.2	44.1
90-120	8.4	7.3	0.21	27.8	0.16	-	-	-	-	49.3	6.5	0.2	0.2	56.2
120-150	8.4	7.3	0.27	28.3	0.19	-	-	-	-	47.0	9.6	0.3	0.7	57.6
-	8.8	7.7	0.4	25.3	0.67	-	-	-	-	40.5	9.4	0.6	1.8	52.3

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 %
0-7	198	24.9	77	6	-	-	-
7-29	203	25	72	4	-	-	-
29-39	82	29.9	71	1.0	-	-	-
39-60	-	10	58	1.0	-	-	-
60-90	178	24.8	62	1.0	-	-	-
90-120	220	25.5	59	1.0	-	-	-
120-150	235	24.5	56	1.0	-	-	-
-	-	18.6	71	2.0	-	-	-

Elemental composition of the clay

Depth (cm)	SiO2 % w/w	Al2O3 % w/w	Fe2O3 % w/w	CaO % w/w	MgO % w/w	K2O % w/w	Na2O % w/w	TiO2 % w/w
0-0	57	18.4	7.1	0.4	2.3	2.5	0.4	0.6
35-35	55.5	17.4	6.4	2.8	2.3	2.5	0.3	0.6
60-60	52.3	17.4	6.6	4.4	2.2	2.6	0.4	0.6
100-100	52.8	17.4	6.3	4.3	2.4	2.7	0.4	0.7
140-140	53.1	17.7	6.3	3.7	2.4	2.9	0.4	0.7
180-180	50.3	17.9	6.6	5	2.5	3.1	0.4	0.7
-	52.3	18.3	4.3	4.3	2.7	3.2	0.4	0.7

Depth (cm)	MnO2 % w/w	P2O5 % w/w	Ign.Loss clay % w/w	Total Clay % w/w	SiO2/Al2O3 mol/mol	SiO2/Fe2O3 mol/mol	SiO2 / R mol/mol	Al2O3/Fe2O3 mol/mol
0-0	0.1	-	11.4	100	5.2	21.5	4.2	4.1
35-35	0.1	-	12.1	100	5.4	22.9	4.4	4.2
60-60	0.1	-	13.4	100	5.1	21.1	4.1	4.1
100-100	0.1	-	12.9	100	5.1	22.4	4.2	4.4
140-140	0.1	-	12.7	100	5.1	22.3	4.2	4.4
180-180	0.1	-	13.4	100	4.8	20.4	3.9	4.3
-	0.1	-	13.7	100	4.8	32.3	4.2	6.7

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
0-0	9.8	16.5	3.4	1.40	1.1	0.6	48.4	0.4
35-35	10.1	18.4	3.3	1.40	1.1	0.6	45.3	0.4
60-60	10.6	13.3	4	1.50	1.3	0.7	52	0.5
100-100	9.4	15.7	3.4	1.40	1.4	0.7	49.4	0.4
140-140	10.2	14.2	3.7	1.50	1.4	0.7	51.8	0.5
180-180	13.8	11.5	4.5	1.90	2	0.7	50.6	0.6
-	11.1	8.6	1.9	1.80	2	0.9	58.2	0.5

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
0-0	4.5	18.6	0.10	0.10	8.4	37.4	6.9
35-35	4.8	19.2	0.10	0.10	7.6	36.4	6.3
60-60	4.2	15.9	0.10	0.10	8.3	34.6	6.7
100-100	4.3	18.0	0.10	0.10	8.9	38.5	7.2
140-140	4.4	15.8	0.10	0.10	8.6	37.7	7.0
180-180	4.8	14.2	0.10	0.10	6.2	29.6	5.2
-	9.0	14.8	0.10	0.10	8.9	80.2	8.0

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-7	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	weak to medium	strong	-	very weak to weak	very strong	-
29-39	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	-	weak to medium	strong	-	very weak to weak	very strong	-
60-90	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	-	weak to medium	strong	-	very weak to weak	very strong	-
120-150	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	-	weak to medium	strong	-	very weak to weak	very strong	-

Profile description

Apkc 0-35 cm	light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4, moist)clay loam,moderate subangular blocky,hard,highly porous (>60 vol%),few large irregular hard calcareous concretions,few non-calc.gravel few fresh calc. gravel fragments,abrupt smooth boundary to,
Bkc 35-60 cm	light yellowish brown (2.5Y 6/4, moist)clay loam,weak medium prismatic parting to strong medium and coarse wedge-shaped angular blocky,hard,few fine distinct sharp mottles (7.5YR 5/6),broken moderately thick on pedfaces cutans,few very fine pores moderately porous (40-60 vol%),very few large irregular hard calcareous concretions frequent large soft calcareous soft segregations,diffuse wavy boundary to,
Bkcg 60-140 cm	light brownish grey (2.5Y 6/2, moist)clay loam,weak coarse prismatic parting to strong medium and coarse wedge-shaped angular blocky,extremely firm,many medium distinct sharp mottles (7.5YR 5/6),continuous thick on pedfaces cutans,few very fine pores moderately porous (40-60 vol%),very few small irregular hard calcareous concretions few small soft calcareous soft segregations,gradual wavy boundary to,
Ckgi 140-180 cm	(2.5Y 6/1, moist)clay loam,massive,firm,many coarse prominent sharp mottles (7.5YR 6/6),continuous slickensides cutans,moderately porous (40-60 vol%),very few small soft calcareous soft segregations,gradual wavy boundary to,
Cgi 180-230 cm	(2.5Y 6/1, moist)silty clay,massive,firm,many coarse prominent sharp mottles (7.5YR 6/6),continuous slickensides cutans,moderately porous (40-60 vol%),
R 0- cm	dark grey (5Y 4/1, moist)clay loam,massive,extremely firm,slightly porous (<40 vol%),dominant coarse gravel and stones fresh shale fragments,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	calcareous shale
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	sandy inclusions
Soil Depth	230cm
Texture of parent material (second entry)	loamy

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	non-agricultural land
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	grasses/low shrubs

Altitude	100m
Physiographic Unit	crest between two incisions
Physiographic position of the site	crest
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	hill
Slope	5%
Slope Aspect	north
Form of the slope surrounding the site	convex
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	rolling

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	moderately well
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
(Estimated) maximum (lower) depth to groundwater table	600cm
Depth to groundwater table	500cm
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	groundwater table observed
(Estimated) minimum (upper) depth to groundwater table	300cm
Moist From - To	0-230cm
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	10
Surface cracking	small cracks (width less than 1 cm, or depth less than 50 cm)
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)	angular blocky
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	very few stones

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Reference soil Italy 17: Calcisol

Characteristics

Reference soil IT017: Calcisols

Classification