Reference soil Jamaica 02: Nitisol

JM002

Nitisols occur mainly in the tropics and subtropics, as well as in areas with a Mediterranean type of climate. They are associated with basic rocks (e.g. basalts) or hard limestone or dolomite deposits.

Characteristics

Soils having a nitic horizon (a horizon with pronounced nut-shaped soil structure and significant amount of active iron) within 100 cm from the soil surface, and gradual to diffuse horizon boundaries between the surface and the underlying horizons. They do not have a ferric, plinthic or vertic horizon within 100 cm from the soil surface.

Distribution of Nitisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil JM002: Nitisols

Evapo-transpiration data are from Smithfield. Parent material consist of weathered residue from chalky limestrone. Haplic Luvisol (FAO, 1988) Ultic Hapludalf (Soil Taxonomy, 1990) by soil reaction field kit

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Acric- Nitisol (Eutric Novic)

Eutric- Nitisol

38-170 cm	argic horizon
38-170 cm	nitic horizon
-	abrupt textural change

0-17 cm	ochric horizon
38-170 cm	argic horizon
38-170 cm	nitic horizon
-	abrupt textural change

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Eutri-Haplic Nitisol

Eutric Nitosol

0-17 cm	ochric A horizon
38-170 cm	argic B horizon
-	abrupt textural change
-	nitic

0-17 cm	ochric A horizon
37-170 cm	argillic B horizon
-	abrupt textural change
-	weatherable minerals

Local classification:	Copse clay loam

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Tropudalf udic very fine mixed isohyperthermic

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
0-21	-	4.8	4.1	2.7	3.1	1.6	16.3	4.8	45.8	50.6	33.0
21-42	-	1.5	1.1	1.1	2.8	2.0	8.5	5.8	49.4	55.2	36.2
42-82	-	2.1	1.1	0.9	1.0	0.5	5.6	2.2	27.0	29.2	65.3
82-130	-	2.7	1.9	1.4	1.4	0.6	8	2.9	24.4	27.3	64.8
130-170	-	5.3	4.4	3.3	2.9	1.0	16.9	2.7	24.0	26.7	56.5
0-35	-	1.7	1.5	1.4	2.6	1.7	8.9	5.7	50.6	56.3	34.8

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
8-13	0.970	-	-	-	-
0-21	-	-	-	17.5	33.0
21-42	-	-	-	30.0	36.2
68-73	1.010	-	-	-	-
42-82	-	-	-	49.0	65.3
82-130	-	-	-	55.5	64.8
130-170	-	-	-	21.5	56.5
0-35	-	-	-	26.5	34.8

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
8-13	0.970	56.1	52.5	49.1	46.2	44.4	42.6	21.1	13.8
68-73	1.010	60.8	59.8	58.7	57.2	56.1	54.3	35.9	29.7

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
0-21	4.8	4.3	0.23	-	3.77	0.38	10	0.9	0.6	3.1	0.5	0.1	0.0	3.7
21-42	5.6	4.4	0.02	-	0.39	0.08	5	0.3	0.1	2.5	0.1	0.1	0.0	2.7
42-82	5.7	4.2	0.04	-	0.40	0.10	4	0.8	0.6	27.1	3.2	0.2	0.0	30.5
82-130	5.8	4.2	0.02	-	0.33	-	-	2.0	1.1	25.5	3.9	0.1	0.1	29.6
130-170	5.5	3.9	0.02	-	0.25	-	-	9.3	6.7	19.4	3.6	0.1	0.0	23.1
0-35	5.2	4.3	0.08	-	1.20	0.15	8	0	0.3	2.7	0.4	0.1	0.0	3.2

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 %
0-21	-	14.2	-	13.2	-	-	0
21-42	-	5.8	-	1.4	-	-	0
42-82	-	37.2	-	1.4	-	-	0
82-130	-	40.8	-	1.2	-	-	0
130-170	-	40.7	-	0.9	-	-	0
0-35	-	8	-	4.2	-	-	-

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
0-21	-	-	-	0.80	0.10	1.30	0.40	0.50	0.50	-	0.70
21-42	-	-	-	0.20	0.10	2.00	0.20	0.80	0.10	-	0.50
42-82	-	-	-	0.40	0.10	2.70	0.40	0.50	0.60	-	0.40
82-130	-	-	-	0.50	0.10	2.70	0.50	0.40	0.80	-	0.30
130-170	-	-	-	0.60	0.10	2.30	0.50	0.30	1.00	-	0.30

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
0-21	70.7	13.5	4.7	0.09	0.68	0.19	-	0.69
21-42	65.1	12.9	9.5	0.12	1.04	0.32	-	1.38
42-82	59.0	19.0	6.6	0.40	2.40	0.39	-	0.99
82-130	58.7	19.5	6.4	0.26	2.48	0.37	-	0.89
130-170	58.2	19.8	6.7	0.23	2.27	0.32	-	0.94

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
0-21	0.07	0.92	9.2	100.7	8.9	40.0	7.3	4.5
21-42	0.02	0.61	8.0	99.0	8.6	18.2	5.8	2.1
42-82	0.01	0.62	10.2	99.6	5.3	23.8	4.3	4.5
82-130	0.09	0.68	10.6	100.0	5.1	24.4	4.2	4.8
130-170	0.05	0.68	10.3	99.5	5.0	23.1	4.1	4.6

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
0-21	4.6	0.22	2.7	0.06	0.20	-	81.2	0.28
21-42	3.7	0.12	3.1	0.08	0.26	-	88.3	0.47
42-82	12.8	0.77	4.5	0.27	1.64	-	71.3	0.69
82-130	14.7	0.80	4.7	0.27	1.82	-	68.0	0.67
130-170	12.9	0.58	4.2	0.25	1.69	-	71.6	0.58
0-35	4.1	0.15	3.4	0.07	0.25	-	86.6	0.48

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
0-21	2.7	10.2	0.09	0.37	30.0	80.1	21.8
21-42	1.9	3.4	0.01	0.13	40.5	75.8	26.4
42-82	4.5	7.9	0.01	0.34	9.5	42.2	7.7
82-130	4.9	8.4	0.05	0.43	7.9	38.5	6.5
130-170	4.8	7.3	0.08	0.39	9.4	45.4	7.8
0-35	1.9	5.2	0.03	0.19	35.8	67.8	23.5

Profile description

Ap 0-17 cm	(dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)clay loam gravelly,moderate to strong medium subangular blocky parting to fine platy,firm sticky plastic,many medium vesicular pores and few tubular pores highly porous (>60 vol%),frequent medium gravel strongly weathered chert fragments,frequent coprogenic elements,clear wavy boundary to,
Bt1 7-38 cm	yellow (10YR 7/6, moist)clay loam gravelly,moderate coarse subangular blocky parting to medium subangular blocky,firm sticky plastic,patchy thin clay on pedfaces cutans,many medium tubular pores moderately porous (40-60 vol%),frequent medium gravel strongly weathered chert fragments,frequent coprogenic elements,gradual wavy boundary to,
2Bt2 38-76 cm	reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/6, moist)clay gravelly,moderate coarse subangular blocky parting to fine and medium subangular blocky,firm sticky very plastic,broken thick clay on pedfaces cutans,many fine tubular pores and few vesicular pores moderately porous (40-60 vol%),frequent medium gravel strongly weathered chert fragments,few coprogenic elements,diffuse smooth boundary to,
2Bt3 76-124 cm	reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/8, moist)clay gravelly,moderate coarse subangular blocky parting to fine and medium subangular blocky,firm sticky plastic,broken thick clay on pedfaces cutans,common medium vesicular pores and many pores moderately porous (40-60 vol%),very frequent medium gravel strongly weathered chert fragments,diffuse smooth boundary to,

Depth1	38cm
Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	limestone
Kind 2 (parent material) (second entry); Parker (eds), 1984	limestone
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	colluvial
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material (second entry)	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	chalky limestone
Soil Depth	170cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
Texture of parent material (second entry)	gravelly
Weathering Resistance	moderate
Weathering Resistance (second entry)	moderate
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	partially or moderately
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock (second entry)	partially or moderately

Major crops	banana
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 grassland, grazed
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)	degraded
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	evergreen forest

Altitude	469m
Physiographic Unit	bottom of karst depression
Physiographic position of the site	depression
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	basin
Slope	7%
Slope Aspect	west
Form of the slope surrounding the site	concave
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	irregular
Nature of flood water	fresh
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	0-170cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	moderate
Estimated run off (class)	slow

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Average size of stone	10
Surface cracking	no cracks observed
Slaking of aggregates by tillage, rainfall or frost (USDA/SCS, 1979)	no surface slaking/crusting observed
Micro relief type: small-scale differences in relief in the direct vicinity of the site (FAO, 1986)	level
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 Jamaica 02: Nitisol

Characteristics

Reference soil JM002: Nitisols

Classification