Reference soil Mozambique 02: Ferralsol

MZ002

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 MZ002: Ferralsols

Brief description of the profile: A very deep, well drained, dark red clay soil, weakly structured up to 58 cm then porous massive, topsoil is weakly developed. Original vegetation: Brachystegia woodland("miombo") - Structure is difficult to describe; every "ped" size can be formed with little force. Clear natural ped surfaces are not present in the subsoil > 58cm. Horizon differentiation is a combined effect of structure and consistency. The subsoil > 58cm can be described in terms of "floury", "coffee granules" etc. -The massive soft, clay nodules with same colour as soil matrix are present from about 100cm and deeper. -A few fine vertical cracks are visible in the profile. -Magnetite is present in the whole profile; weatherable minerals are visible from 200 cm and deeper. -Precence of cutans in deeper subsoil is disputable

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Acric- Ferralsol (Hyperdystric Clayic Rhodic)

Hyperdystri-Acric- Ferralsol (Rhodic)

15-180 cm	ferralic horizon
15-58 cm	argic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Rhodi-Haplic Acrisol

Ferric Acrisol

0-15 cm	ochric A horizon
15-180 cm	ferralic B horizon
15-58 cm	argic B horizon

0-15 cm	ochric A horizon
15-58 cm	argillic B horizon
58-180 cm	oxic B horizon
-	ferric

Local classification:	Chicunja

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Haplustox ustic clayey kaolinitic thermic

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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
0-15	-	0.1	1.7	9.8	20.1	9.7	41.4	8.2	13.6	21.8	36.9
15-30	-	0.1	1.6	5.8	12.4	6.9	26.8	4.6	5.6	10.2	63.0
30-50	-	0.2	1.3	5.2	11.5	6.5	24.7	4.8	6.9	11.7	63.5
65-90	-	0.1	1.3	6.2	14.1	8.2	29.9	9.3	12.0	21.3	48.9
130-150	-	0.2	1.1	3.6	9.6	8.2	22.7	6.8	8.5	15.3	62.1
240-280	-	0.4	2.3	4.4	8.7	6.7	22.5	7.0	14.2	21.2	56.2
350-370	-	0.2	1.9	4.7	8.8	6.6	22.2	6.2	24.9	31.1	46.7
550-560	-	0.1	2.7	9.4	16.0	9.1	37.3	6.8	33.5	40.3	22.3

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-15	1.14	-	-	11.6	36.9
30-36	1.16	-	-	-	-
15-30	-	-	-	0.0	63.0
75-80	1.04	-	-	-	-
30-50	-	-	-	0.0	63.5
65-90	-	52	-	0.0	48.9
130-150	-	49	-	0.0	62.1
240-280	-	-	-	0.0	56.2
350-370	-	-	-	0.0	46.7
550-560	-	-	-	0.0	22.3

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
0-15	1.14	54	50	42	31	28	26	20	19
30-36	1.16	51	50	44	35	32	30	25	24
75-80	1.04	55	52	46	34	29	26	22	22

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
0-15	5.2	4.5	0.03	-	1.19	0.08	15	0.3	-	0.6	0.8	0.1	0.0	1.5
15-30	5.0	4.7	0.01	-	0.46	0.04	12	0.2	-	0.2	0.8	0.0	0.0	1
30-50	5.1	4.9	0.02	-	0.32	0.04	8	0.1	-	0.2	0.8	0.0	0.0	1
65-90	5.5	5.7	0.01	-	0.15	0.03	5	0.0	-	0.6	0.9	0.0	0.0	1.5
130-150	5.5	5.7	0.00	-	0.14	0.03	5	0.0	-	0.2	0.7	0.1	0.1	1.1
240-280	5.5	5.1	0.01	-	0.05	0.02	3	0.1	-	0.6	0.4	0.1	0.2	1.3
350-370	5.6	4.5	0.01	-	0.05	0.00	-	0.6	-	0.0	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.5
550-560	5.5	4.2	0.01	-	0.04	0.02	2	2.1	1.8	0.2	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.4

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 %
0-15	16	9.1	25	4.2	-	-	0
15-30	12	8.1	13	1.6	-	-	0
30-50	15	6.7	11	1.1	-	-	0
65-90	29	5.2	11	0.5	-	-	0
130-150	20	5.4	9	0.5	-	-	2
240-280	22	5.8	10	0.2	-	-	3
350-370	8	6.3	13	0.2	-	-	3
550-560	9	4.6	21	0.1	-	-	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
0-15	-	-	-	0.33	0.02	4.70	0.30	0.05	0.12	-	0.26
15-30	-	-	-	0.30	0.03	5.90	0.34	0.01	0.08	-	0.32
30-50	-	-	-	0.27	0.00	6.04	0.10	0.00	0.05	-	0.32
65-90	-	-	-	0.17	0.02	5.88	0.29	0.00	0.03	-	0.23
130-150	-	-	-	0.18	0.04	6.64	0.32	0.00	0.03	-	0.21
240-280	-	-	-	0.17	0.05	6.46	0.31	0.00	0.04	-	0.17
350-370	-	-	-	0.14	0.02	6.40	0.31	0.00	0.05	-	0.14
550-560	-	-	-	0.11	0.02	5.73	0.25	0.00	0.05	-	0.11

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
65-90	28.1	39.2	14.2	0.02	0.02	0.07	-	1.43
130-150	29.9	39.5	12.6	0.01	0.05	0.06	-	1.42

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
65-90	0.05	0.18	17.1	100.37	1.2	5.3	1	4.3
130-150	0.07	0.16	16.7	100.47	1.3	6.3	1.1	4.9

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
0-15	18.7	0.03	10.9	0.10	0.05	-	58.2	2.98
15-30	25.8	0.01	11.9	0.08	0.04	-	47.5	2.44
30-50	27.0	0.02	12.1	0.07	0.06	-	46.0	2.40
65-90	25.3	0.00	12.1	0.08	0.06	-	47.9	2.66
130-150	27.7	0.00	12.9	0.08	0.07	-	43.8	2.67
240-280	27.7	0.00	12.4	0.07	0.03	-	47.7	2.32
350-370	26.2	0.00	12.2	0.06	0.02	-	47.0	2.06
550-560	26.2	0.00	11.5	0.05	0.08	-	50.1	1.51

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
0-15	2.7	9.6	0.12	0.18	5.3	14.2	3.9
15-30	3.4	11.4	0.09	0.18	3.1	10.6	2.4
30-50	3.5	11.8	0.08	0.16	2.9	10.1	2.2
65-90	3.3	11.4	0.07	0.08	3.2	10.5	2.5
130-150	3.4	11.7	0.07	0.07	2.7	9	2.1
240-280	3.5	10.8	0.09	0.06	2.9	10.2	2.3
350-370	3.4	10.7	0.06	0.05	3	10.2	2.3
550-560	3.6	10.3	0.05	0.03	3.2	11.6	2.5

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-15	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
15-30	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
30-50	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
65-90	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
130-150	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
240-280	-	-	very weak to weak	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
350-370	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	weak	very strong	-	-	very weak	-	-
550-560	-	-	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
30-50	-	-	-	93	1	88
130-150	10.2	-	89.8	94	-	100
240-280	-	1	-	93	-	89
550-560	-	-	-	97	1	84

Minerals

Depth (cm)	Anatase % w/w	Andalusite % w/w	Apatite % w/w	Augite % w/w	Biotite % w/w	Hornblende (basaltic) % w/w
30-50	-	-	1	-	-	-
130-150	4	-	-	-	-	-
240-280	2	1	-	1	-	-

Depth (cm)	Brookite % w/w	Chloritic % w/w	Disthene % w/w	Epidote % w/w	Garnet % w/w	Glaucophane % w/w
30-50	-	-	4	-	-	-
240-280	-	-	1	-	-	-

Depth (cm)	Grenate % w/w	Grossular % w/w	Muscovite % w/w	Rutile % w/w	Sillimanite % w/w	Spinel % w/w
30-50	-	-	-	1	2	-
130-150	3	-	-	2	-	-
240-280	-	-	-	7	-	-
550-560	-	-	-	-	1	-

Profile description

Ap 0-15 cm	dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/4, moist)sandy clay,moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky to crumb,slightly hard very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine and fine pores,many fine roots,non calcareous,abrupt smooth boundary to,
Bt 15-58 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, moist)clay,weak to moderate very fine and fine subangular blocky,hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,broken thin clay cutans,many very fine and fine pores,many fine roots,non calcareous,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bo 58-180 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, moist)clay,porous massive,slightly hard very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,patchy thin clay cutans,many very fine and fine pores,common fine roots,few medium spherical soft argillaceous nodules,non calcareous,
Auger 180-400 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, moist)clay,non calcareous,
Auger 400-650 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, moist)clay,few strongly weathered rotten rock, incr.%,non calcareous,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	diorite
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	Basement Complex
Texture of parent material	clayey
Weathering Resistance	moderate
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	highly

Major crops	maize
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	low level arable farming
Rotation scheme ; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	shifting - fallow grass

Altitude	1325m
Physiographic Unit	interfluve
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.	plain
Slope	2%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Dry From - To	0-130cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	130-500cm
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
Surface cracking	no cracks observed
Slaking of aggregates by tillage, rainfall or frost (USDA/SCS, 1979)	surface partly slaked, round smooth aggregates
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 02: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil MZ002: Ferralsols

Classification