Reference soil Mozambique 01: Ferralsol

MZ001

Ferralsols occur in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, mainly on old and stable land surfaces.

Characteristics

Soils having a ferralic horizon (strongly weathered horizon with low-activity clays and very low amounts of weatherable minerals) between 25 and 200 cm from the soil surface. They lack a nitic horizon (a horizon with strongly developed, nut-shaped structure) and do not have a layer which fulfils the requirements of an argic horizon and which has, in the upper 30 cm, 10 percent or more water-dispersible clay.

Distribution of Ferralsols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil MZ001: Ferralsols

Short description of the profile: very deep, well drained dark red clay soil; weakly to moderately structured up to 62 cm, than porous massive. Physiography: smooth interfluves and "dambo's", few bare rock inselbergs. local soil name : Katonde (Chinhandje/Chichewa) In the Bws the structure is difficult to describe, no ped is clearly visible, in fact every ped size can be made with a slight force; massive porous-weakly coherent can also be described as very weak, very fine to fine subangular blocky (coffee granules structure). The nodules have the same colour as the soil matrix.They differ from the soil by their coherency and the absence of pores.Their nature is probably clay indurated with iron. Spherical termite holes with flat bottom and a diameter of about 8 cm are visible in the whole soil profile with a density of 1 to 2 per square meter; mainly empty but sometimes filled with fungus combs. Classification, even on high level, of this soil is problematic, due to the occurrence of both an argillic and an oxic horizon.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Acric- Ferralsol (Dystric Clayic Rhodic)

Rhodi-Acric- Ferralsol

15-145 cm	ferralic horizon
15-85 cm	argic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Rhodi-Haplic Acrisol

Ferric Acrisol

0-15 cm	ochric A horizon
15-145 cm	ferralic B horizon
15-85 cm	argic B horizon

0-15 cm	ochric A horizon
15-85 cm	argillic B horizon
85-145 cm	oxic B horizon
-	ferric

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Paleustalf ustic kaolinitic 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
0-4	-	3.4	10.0	16.2	16.0	4.9	50.5	5.9	12.6	18.5	31.0
4-15	-	2.4	8.0	14.1	15.5	4.8	44.8	6.0	3.4	9.4	45.9
30-45	-	3.5	7.2	9.1	10.7	4.1	34.6	5.4	7.1	12.5	53.1
70-85	-	2.9	6.4	8.2	11.5	4.4	33.4	11.3	13.6	24.9	41.7
130-145	-	3.0	6.5	6.6	9.3	4.7	30.1	7.9	11.2	19.1	50.8
260-290	-	3.3	5.2	5.5	7.7	5.1	26.8	11.1	13.6	24.7	48.5
400-460	-	4.6	10.1	5.8	5.1	3.2	28.8	11.1	16.7	27.8	43.4

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	-	-	-	8.5	31.0
4-15	-	-	-	9.9	45.9
30-45	-	-	-	0.5	53.1
70-85	-	-	-	0.0	41.7
130-145	-	-	-	0.0	50.8
260-290	-	-	-	0.0	48.5
400-460	-	-	-	-	43.4

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	5.7	5.0	0.08	-	1.70	0.11	15	0.1	0.0	2.6	1.5	0.5	0.0	4.6
4-15	5.5	4.8	0.05	-	1.26	0.07	18	0.1	0.0	1.8	0.9	0.4	0.0	3.1
30-45	5.1	4.6	0.03	-	0.30	0.03	10	0.2	0.0	0.8	0.4	0.3	0.0	1.5
70-85	5.6	5.6	0.01	-	0.17	0.01	17	0.0	0.0	0.8	0.5	0.2	0.0	1.5
130-145	5.5	5.6	0.01	-	0.16	0.01	16	0.0	0.0	1.8	1.0	0.2	0.0	3
260-290	5.4	5.7	0.01	-	0.08	0.01	8	0.0	0.0	1.6	0.8	0.1	0.0	2.5

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	40	11.4	37	6.0	-	0	0
4-15	37	8.4	18	4.4	-	0	0
30-45	18	8.3	16	1.1	-	0	0
70-85	22	6.7	16	0.6	-	0	0
130-145	41	7.4	15	0.6	-	0	0
260-290	33	7.5	15	0.3	-	0	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	-	-	-	0.27	0.00	2.54	0.35	0.06	0.09	-	0.23
4-15	-	-	-	0.28	0.01	2.81	0.40	0.10	0.09	-	0.25
30-45	-	-	-	0.28	0.02	3.12	0.45	0.02	0.12	-	0.24
70-85	-	-	-	0.20	0.02	2.81	0.35	0.01	0.05	-	0.13
130-145	-	-	-	0.19	0.03	3.06	0.40	0.01	0.06	-	0.14
260-290	-	-	-	0.16	0.05	3.83	0.37	0.00	0.05	-	0.13

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	15.1	0.10	9.3	0.29	0.10	-	63.4	3.61
4-15	17.2	0.07	9.7	0.30	0.06	-	60.2	3.54
30-45	22.0	0.03	9.8	0.24	0.07	-	57.5	2.77
70-85	21.7	0.03	10.2	0.23	0.06	-	55.9	2.99
130-145	23.4	0.03	10.4	0.23	0.07	-	53.2	2.78
260-290	25.4	0.04	10.6	0.16	0.07	-	52.0	2.38

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	2.5	8.5	0.13	0.32	7.1	18.1	5.1
4-15	2.8	8.8	0.12	0.28	5.9	16.5	4.4
30-45	3.5	8.9	0.08	0.33	4.4	15.6	3.5
70-85	3.3	8.9	0.06	0.17	4.4	14.6	3.4
130-145	3.5	9.6	0.06	0.17	3.9	13.6	3.0
260-290	3.8	9.9	0.06	0.14	3.5	13.1	2.7

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-4	-	-	very weak to weak	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
4-15	-	-	very weak to weak	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
30-45	-	-	very weak to weak	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
70-85	-	-	weak	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
130-145	-	-	very weak to weak	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
260-290	-	-	very weak to weak	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-

Sand mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Heavy Frac. sand % w/w	K-Feldspar % w/w	Light Fra. sand % w/w	Opaque % w/w	Plagioclase % w/w	Quartz % w/w
30-45	-	2	-	97	-	98
130-145	-	1	-	87	-	99
400-460	-	1	-	83	1	98

Minerals

Depth (cm)	Anatase % w/w	Andalusite % w/w	Apatite % w/w	Augite % w/w	Biotite % w/w	Hornblende (basaltic) % w/w
30-45	4	-	-	-	-	1
130-145	5	-	-	-	-	-
400-460	4	-	-	-	-	-

Depth (cm)	Grenate % w/w	Grossular % w/w	Muscovite % w/w	Rutile % w/w	Sillimanite % w/w	Spinel % w/w
30-45	-	-	-	12	-	-
130-145	-	-	-	11	1	-
400-460	-	-	-	11	-	-

Profile description

Ah 0-15 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, moist)sandy clay,moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky and moderate very fine and fine crumb,slightly (dry)hard very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic (moist),no cutans,many very fine pores and fine pores,many very fine roots,few termite channels,non calcareous,gradual smooth boundary to,
15-25 cm	dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, moist)clay,moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky,hard (dry) friable slightly sticky slightly plastic (moist),no cutans,many very fine pores and fine pores,common very fine and fine roots,few termite channels,non calcareous,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bt 25-62 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, moist)clay,weak very fine and fine subangular blocky,hard (dry) friable slightly sticky slightly plastic (moist),broken moderately thick clay cutans,many very fine pores and fine pores,common very fine and fine roots,few termite channels,non calcareous,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bo 62-170 cm	(2.5YR 3.5/6, moist)clay,porous massive,slightly hard very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,broken moderately thick clay cutans,many very fine pores and fine pores,few very fine and fine roots,very few medium spherical soft argillaceous nodules,few termite channels,non calcareous,
Auger 170-400 cm	red (2.5YR 4/6, moist)clay,very few medium spherical hard argillaceous nodules,non calcareous,diffuse boundary to,
Auger 400-600 cm	red (2.5YR 4/6, moist)clay,few medium spherical hard ferruginous concretions,non calcareous,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	gneiss
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	Basement Complex
Soil Depth	170cm
Texture of parent material (second entry)	clayey
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	highly

Intensity of the soil erosion type	slight
Soil erosion type	sheet

Major crops	maize
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	low level arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: Miombo woodland, recently strongly cut
Rotation scheme ; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	shifting - fallow bush
Status of vegetation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	cut over
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	woodland

Altitude	480m
Physiographic Unit	smooth interfluve
Physiographic position of the site	upper slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	plateau
Slope	3%
Form of the slope surrounding the site	convex
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Dry From - To	0-200cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	200cm
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
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)	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 Mozambique 01: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil MZ001: Ferralsols

Classification