Reference soil: Nicaragua 03

NI003

Distribution of Phaeozems (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Very deep, (mod) well drained, yellowish brown clay; with a very dark brown topsoil, well rooted throughout At the limit Bt --> BC is a thin layer of rounded stones (not weathered resistent). It may be an indication of colluvium as parent material [micromorphology!]. The BC and CB horizons are charatcerized by whitish spots, the abundance increasing with depth. The cutans in the Bt have been described as patchy and broken, faint and distinct. Dry forest, major species: Quebrado ( ); Jinocuabo ( ) Espino negro ( ); Cornizuelo( ) The permeability of the soil is probably not sufficient to transmit the excess of rainwater. Run-off is a common feature, res ulting in natural gullies/dissecting streamlines throughout the landscape (high natural erosion).

Classification

WRB 2006		WRB 1998
Vertic Phaeozems (Clayic )		Haplic Phaeozem
0-43 cm	mollic horizon	0-43 cm	mollic horizon
43-102	cambic horizon	43-102 cm	cambic horizon
	vertic horizon
		FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974
		Haplic Phaeozem
		0-43 cm	mollic A horizon
		43-102 cm	cambic B horizon
-		-	argillic B horizon
		-	ochric A horizon

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)	Haplustalf clayey

Location:

Department of Caraco, Biological Station Chacocente

Physical characteristics

Particle size distribution

Depth (cm)	Clay % weight/weight	coarse sand % weight/weight	coarse silt % weight/weight	fine sand % weight/weight	fine silt % weight/weight	Gravel % volume/volume	medium sand % weight/weight	Total sand % weight/weight	Total silt % weight/weight	very coarse sand % weight/weight	very fine sand % weight/weight
0-4	65.5	0.7	3.6	2.9	23.0	-	1.0	8	26.6	0.1	3.3
4-25	60.6	0.4	6.5	1.7	27.7	-	0.7	5.2	34.2	0.3	2.1
25-43	67.1	0.8	6.9	1.6	21.2	-	0.7	4.8	28.1	0.5	1.2
43-70	63.5	1.0	7.3	1.9	22.3	-	1.0	7.1	29.6	1.0	2.2
70-102	56.5	1.1	6.9	2.9	27.2	-	1.3	9.5	34.1	1.1	3.1
102-130	41.4	2.3	9.1	9.5	26.8	-	5.0	22.7	35.9	0.0	5.9
130-150	46.6	1.8	8.6	7.3	27.6	-	3.4	17.2	36.2	0.0	4.7

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	pF 0 % volume/volume	pF 1.0 % volume/volume	pF 1.5 % volume/volume	pF 2.0 % volume/volume	pF 2.3 % volume/volume	pF 2.7 % volume/volume	pF 3.4 % volume/volume	pF 4.2 % volume/volume
10-15	1.012	54.7	51.4	46.7	42.8	37.9	37.4	28.6	28.5
20-30	1.066	58.5	55.4	51.8	47.8	42.1	41.7	35.3	28.7
55-60	1.254	56.1	56.0	55.4	54.1	50.8	50.5	43.5	40.4
80-85	1.186	54.6	53.4	51.3	48.9	43.9	43.5	38.6	35.7

Other physical data

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Clay % weight/weight	COLE cm/cm	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	Water disp. clay %
0-4	-	65.5	-	-	30.6
10-15	1.012	-	-	-	-
20-30	1.066	-	-	-	-
4-25	-	60.6	-	-	46.9
55-60	1.254	-	-	-	-
25-43	-	67.1	-	-	47.7
43-70	-	63.5	-	-	44.8
80-85	1.186	-	-	-	-
70-102	-	56.5	-	-	39.8
102-130	-	41.4	-	-	15.4
130-150	-	46.6	-	-	15.3

Chemical characteristics

Depth (cm)	C % weight/weight	Ca cmol(c)/kg	CaCO3 % weight/weight	C / N unitless	EC 1: 2.5 mS/cm	Exch. Acid cmol(c)/kg	Exch. Al cmol(c)/kg	K cmol(c)/kg	Mg cmol(c)/kg	N %	Na cmol(c)/kg	pH H2O unitless	pHKCl unitless	Sum Cations cmol(c)/kg
0-4	3.72	45.3	1.5	10	0.32	-	-	1.2	7.5	0.36	0.2	7.0	6.1	54.2
4-25	1.61	39.7	-	7	0.08	-	-	0.5	7.7	0.22	0.3	6.3	4.8	48.2
25-43	1.08	40.3	-	8	0.06	-	-	0.3	7.6	0.13	0.7	6.0	4.3	48.9
43-70	0.51	42.4	-	7	0.08	-	-	0.4	8.0	0.07	1.3	5.8	3.9	52.1
70-102	0.26	46.5	1.7	-	0.04	-	-	0.3	8.2	-	2.0	6.7	5.1	57.0
102-130	0.14	69.0	3.7	-	0.42	-	-	0.3	6.3	-	2.0	8.3	6.7	77.6
130-150	0.06	59.2	13.6	-	0.28	-	-	0.2	5.2	-	1.7	8.6	6.9	66.3

Depth (cm)	Al sat. %	Base sat. %	CEC clay cmol(c)/kg	CEC org cmol(c)/kg	CEC soil cmol(c)/kg	ECEC cmol(c)/kg	ESP %
0-4	-	103	80	13.0	52.7	-	0
4-25	-	95	84	5.6	50.7	-	1
25-43	-	97	75	3.8	50.4	-	1
43-70	-	102	80	1.8	50.9	-	3
70-102	-	106	95	0.9	53.6	-	4
102-130	-	182	103	0.5	42.6	-	5
130-150	-	194	73	0.2	34.1	-	5

Depth (cm)	Al d % weight/weight	Al o % weight/weight	Al p % weight/weight	C p % weight/weight	Fe d % weight/weight	Fe o % weight/weight	Fe p % weight/weight	ODOE unitless	pH NaF unitless	P Retention %	Si o % weight/weight
0-4	-	0.20	-	-	-	0.40	-	-	-	-	0.04
4-25	-	0.26	-	-	-	0.39	-	-	-	-	0.05
25-43	-	0.20	-	-	-	0.40	-	-	-	-	0.05
43-70	-	0.16	-	-	-	0.28	-	-	-	-	0.04
70-102	-	0.09	-	-	-	0.13	-	-	-	-	0.06
102-130	-	0.08	-	-	-	0.07	-	-	-	-	0.05
130-150	-	0.07	-	-	-	0.04	-	-	-	-	0.00

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite unitless	Feldspar unitless	Gibbsite unitless	Goethite unitless	Halloysite unitless	Hematite unitless	Kaolinite unitless	Mica / illite unitless	Mixed-layer unitless	Quartz unitless	Smec unitless	Vermiculite unitless
0-4	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	-	-	weak	very strong	-
4-25	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	-	-	weak	very strong	-
25-43	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	-	-	weak	very strong	-
43-70	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	-	-	weak	very strong	-
70-102	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	-	-	weak	very strong	-
102-130	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	weak	very strong	-
130-150	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak	-	-	weak	very strong	-

Profile description

Ah1 0-4 cm	black (10YR 2/1, moist)clay,strong fine subangular blocky,hard sticky plastic,many very fine fine tubular pores,abrupt smooth boundary to,
Ah2 4-25 cm	very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2, moist)clay,strong medium and coarse subangular blocky,very hard sticky plastic,many very fine tubular pores and few tubular pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
Ah3 25-43 cm	very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2, moist)clay,moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky,firm sticky plastic,many very fine tubular pores,abrupt smooth boundary to,
Bt 43-102 cm	yellowish brown (10YR 5/6, moist)clay,moderately coherent porous massive parting to weak medium and coarse subangular blocky,firm sticky plastic,continuous thin clay and sesquioxide cutans,common very fine tubular pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
BC 102-130 cm	sandy clayweakly coherent porous massive,friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,few very fine tubular pores,very frequent fine gravel strongly weathered fragments,gradual smooth boundary to,
CB/C 130-150 cm	sandy clay loamweakly coherent porous massive,friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,few very fine tubular pores,dominant fine gravel strongly weathered fragments,

Weathering Resistance	moderate
Soil Depth	150cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	interbedded sedimentary rock
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material

Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	semi-deciduous woodland
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	non-agricultural land
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: Dry forest, major species Quebrado, Jinocuabo, Espino negro and Cornizuelo

Altitude	0m
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating
Slope	4%
Physiographic position of the site	slope
Physiographic Unit	dissected valley
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	low hill
Form of the slope surrounding the site	convex

Dry From - To	0-25cm
Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	moderately well
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	moderate
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Drainage class - intergrade; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Estimated run off (class)	rapid
Moist From - To	25-150cm

Rock outcrop class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none
Evidence of salt; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-saline
Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Surface cracking	small cracks (width less than 1 cm, or depth less than 50 cm)
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none

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Reference soil: Nicaragua 03

Classification