Reference soil Kenya 57: Luvisol

KE057

Luvisols occur mainly in temperate regions, particularly in areas with a Mediterranean-type of climate.

Characteristics

Soils having an argic horizon (a subsurface horizon with a distinct higher clay content than the overlying horizon) with a cation exchange capacity equal to or more than 24 cmolc per kg clay throughout.

Distribution of Luvisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil KE057: Luvisols

Crotovinas at 20cm and at 64 - 80cm. A broken petrocalcic at 130 - 150cm. Other landuse: small scale rainfed annual crops. Slides: 10,168 - 10,172 and 10,178 - 10,183.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Cutanic- Luvisol (Ruptic Clayic Chromic)

Cutani-Chromic- Luvisol

130-140 cm	petrocalcic horizon
8-64 cm	argic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Petrocalci-Chromic Luvisol

Chromic Luvisol petrocalcic

0-20 cm	ochric A horizon
130-140 cm	petrocalcic horizon
8-64 cm	argic B horizon
-	calcareous

0-20 cm	ochric A horizon
130-140 cm	petrocalcic horizon
8-64 cm	argillic B horizon

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Rhodustalf ustic clayey isohyperthermic

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
0-8	-	6.9	3.1	21.6	26.4	7.4	65.4	8.1	4.3	12.4	22.2
8-20	-	5.1	8.5	13.7	17.2	6.9	51.4	5.4	3.7	9.1	39.4
20-46	-	4.2	8.0	12.6	14.2	6.1	45.1	5.2	3.0	8.2	46.7
46-64	-	3.1	6.4	12.8	16.7	5.3	44.3	4.3	4.8	9.1	46.6
64-86	-	6.2	8.5	14.2	20.4	8.1	57.4	9.8	18.3	28.1	14.6
86-106	-	6.6	7.6	12.1	18.4	5.4	50.1	6.1	11.2	17.3	32.6
106-140	-	15.7	12.5	12.9	18.6	9.7	69.4	10.7	12.0	22.7	8.0

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-8	-	-	-	8.2	22.2
8-20	1.56	-	-	13.4	39.4
20-46	1.55	-	-	12.0	46.7
46-64	1.61	-	-	14.9	46.6
64-86	1.52	-	-	11.6	14.6
86-106	-	-	-	8.3	32.6
106-140	-	-	-	7.7	8.0

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
8-20	1.56	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20-46	1.55	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
46-64	1.61	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
64-86	1.52	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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
0-8	7.1	6.2	0.07	0.5	0.77	0.09	9	-	-	5.2	1.8	0.9	0.0	7.9
8-20	6.7	5.4	0.05	0.5	0.46	0.08	6	-	-	7.6	2.5	1.0	0.0	11.1
20-46	6.0	4.8	0.05	-	0.34	0.06	6	-	-	7.7	2.3	0.5	0.1	10.6
46-64	6.3	5.0	0.06	-	0.26	0.06	4	-	-	9.6	2.6	0.2	0.1	12.5
64-86	7.5	6.4	0.11	0.9	0.18	0.05	4	-	-	14.6	2.1	0.2	0.1	17
86-106	8.1	7.1	0.20	3.9	0.25	0.05	5	-	-	43.0	2.3	0.2	0.1	45.6
106-140	8.3	7.4	0.15	3.2	0.10	0.03	3	-	-	40.6	2.6	0.3	0.2	43.7

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 %
0-8	91	8.7	28	2.7	-	-	0
8-20	100	11.1	24	1.6	-	-	0
20-46	43	24.4	50	1.2	-	-	0
46-64	45	27.7	58	0.9	-	-	0
64-86	104	16.3	109	0.6	-	-	1
86-106	283	16.1	185	0.9	-	-	1
106-140	299	14.6	184	0.4	-	-	1

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-8	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	-	-	weak	-
20-46	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	-	-	weak	-
64-86	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak	-	-	medium	-
106-140	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	medium to strong	weak	-	-	weak to medium	-

Profile description

Ah 0-8 cm	yellowish red (5YR 4/6, dry) dark reddish brown (2.5YR 2.5/4, moist)sandy clay,weak coarse subangular blocky parting to granular,slightly hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine and few fine to coarse pores,many very fine roots,few fresh stones and mica fragments,non calcareous,clear smooth boundary to,
8-20 cm	dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, dry) dusky red (10R 3/4, moist)clay,moderate coarse angular blocky and moderate coarse subangular blocky,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,many very fine and few fine and medium pores,common very fine roots,few stones fresh mica fragments,few krotovinas,non calcareous,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bt1 20-46 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, dry) dark red (10R 3/6, moist)clay,moderate coarse angular blocky,hard friable sticky plastic,broken thin clay cutans,many very fine pores and few fine pores,common very fine roots,non calcareous,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bt2 46-64 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, dry) dusky red (10R 3/4, moist)clay,moderate coarse prismatic parting to moderate medium and coarse angular blocky,hard friable sticky plastic,continuous thin clay cutans,many very fine and few fine and medium pores,common very fine roots,non calcareous,clear smooth boundary to,
64-86 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, dry) dark red (10R 3/6, moist)clay,weak coarse prismatic parting to moderate medium and coarse angular blocky,hard friable sticky plastic,patchy thin clay cutans,many very fine pores and few fine pores,common very fine roots,few medium gravel fresh quartz fragments,few krotovinas,strongly calcareous (10-25%),abrupt wavy boundary to,
2Ck 86-106 cm	red (2.5YR 4/6, dry) dark red (2.5YR 3/6, moist)sandy clay,moderate subangular blocky,slightly hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine pores and few fine pores,common very fine roots,strongly calcareous (10-25%),abrupt wavy boundary to,
2Ckc 106-140 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, dry) dark red (2.5YR 3/6, moist)gravelly sandy clay loam,moderate subangular blocky and weak granular,slightly hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine pores and few fine pores,common very fine roots,frequent large irregular hard calcareous concretions,non calcareous,

Depth1	140cm
Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	gneiss
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	Basement system, biotite gneiss
Soil Depth	140cm
Texture of parent material	sandy clay
Weathering Resistance	high
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	partially or moderately

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

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	woodland, grazed
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: Shrubbed bushland, browsed
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 woodland

Altitude	725m
Physiographic Unit	non dissected erosional plain
Physiographic position of the site	flat
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	plain
Slope	0%
Form of the slope surrounding the site	straight
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	flat or almost flat

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	moderately well
Dry From - To	0-140cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	high
Estimated run off (class)	medium

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)	surface capped, crust on drying
Microrelief Height: variation in height	50
Micro relief type: small-scale differences in relief in the direct vicinity of the site (FAO, 1986)	termite/ant mounds
Microrelief pattern	isolated
Rock outcrop class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none
Evidence of salt; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-saline
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none

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Reference soil Kenya 57: Luvisol

Characteristics

Reference soil KE057: Luvisols

Classification