Reference soil Pakistan 01: Calcisol

PK001

Calcisols occur in regions with distinct dry seasons, as well as in dry areas where carbonate-rich groundwater comes near the surface.

Characteristics

Soils having a (petro-)calcic horizon (horizon with accumulation of secondary calcium carbonates). In addition, they have no diagnostic horizons other than an ochric or cambic horizon, a calcareous argic horizon, or a gypsic horizon beneath a petrocalcic horizon.

Distribution of Calcisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil PK001: Calcisol

Authors: Khanzada, Siddique, Cook, Lytle. Location: Ghulzar Ahmed Farm, about 16 km from Hyderabad on Hyderabad-Tando Jam Road. Parent material: Mixed Material from Himalayas. Physiographic unit: Basins in subrecent river terraces; terrace No. 2 of Indus River Plain. Aggradation: Very slight deposition by water. Crops: Sugarcane, wheat nearby. EC: Profile throughout <4 mmho. pH-value (Thymol blue): whole profile moderately alkaline. Additional notes on profile description: Bt2: Mottles few 10 YR 5/8 fine distinct clear; broken thin humus cutans. 2Bwh2 + 2BC: Mottles few 10 YR 5/6 few medium distinct clear. Brief description of the soil: A well drained, brownish gray soil with clear horizontation and different kinds of distinct clear mottling all over the profile. The texture is silty clay over silty loam and the consistence will be very hard when dry. Patchy and continuous clay cutans are signs of undergoing clay movement in the BAt and Bt1-3 horizons. Very fine and fine roots are found throughout the profile, very fine to fine pores are evenly spread over all horizons. The soil is slowly permeable and moderately alkaline. Climate data source: FAO Agroclimatological data: Asia 2; Rome 1987. References: Brinkman, R.: Soil genesis in West Pakistan; Pakistan Soil Bulletin No. 4, Lahore February 1971. Directorate of soil survey, West Pakistan: reconnaissance soil survey Lahore District; Lahore 1968.

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
0-10	-	0	0	0.2	1.3	4.2	5.7	16.8	30.2	47	47.3
10-21	-	0	0.1	0.1	1.1	4	5.3	10.9	33.2	44.1	50.6
21-47	-	0	0.1	0.1	0.7	3.9	4.8	7.7	38.6	46.3	49.4
47-67	-	0	0.1	0.1	0.5	1.9	2.6	6.2	42.2	48.4	49
67-82	-	0	0	0.2	0.7	1.2	2.1	4.7	43.4	48.1	49.9
82-94	-	0	0	0.1	2.1	7.9	10.1	15	34	48	40.9
94-118	-	0.3	0.2	0.1	2.8	8.4	11.8	18.2	40.5	58.7	29.5

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-10	-	-	-	-	47.3
10-21	-	-	-	-	50.6
21-47	-	-	-	-	49.4
47-67	-	-	-	-	49
67-82	-	-	-	-	49.9
82-94	-	-	-	-	40.9
94-118	-	-	-	-	29.5

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
0-10	8.1	7.4	0.64	6.1	0.96	0.10	10	-	-	45.2	5.7	1.5	1.7	54.1
10-21	8.4	7.4	0.3	7.2	0.62	0.09	7	-	-	44.8	5.3	1.2	0.7	52
21-47	8.5	7.4	0.23	6.9	0.42	0.06	7	-	-	51.3	5.8	1.1	0.9	59.1
47-67	8.6	7.4	0.26	10.3	0.25	0.05	5	-	-	35.8	1.9	0	0.0	37.7
67-82	8.5	7.5	0.28	11.7	0.24	0.05	5	-	-	47.9	5.7	0.8	1.0	55.4
82-94	8.5	7.5	0.34	9.7	0.21	-	-	-	-	46.6	5.3	0.7	1.1	53.7
94-118	8.6	7.7	0.28	20.9	0.16	-	-	-	-	44.4	4.2	0.5	0.7	49.8

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 %
0-10	230	23.5	50	3.4	-	-	7
10-21	229	22.7	45	2.2	-	-	3
21-47	241	24.5	50	1.5	-	-	4
47-67	179	21.1	43	0.9	-	-	0
67-82	276	20.1	40	0.8	-	-	5
82-94	303	17.7	43	0.7	-	-	6
94-118	395	12.6	43	0.6	-	-	6

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-10	weak	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	medium to strong	-	medium to strong	medium to strong	-
10-21	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	strong	-	medium to strong	very weak to weak	-
21-47	weak to medium	weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	strong	-	medium to strong	very weak to weak	-
47-67	weak	weak	-	-	-	-	weak	medium to strong	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	-
67-82	weak	weak	-	-	-	-	weak	medium to strong	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	-
82-94	weak to medium	weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	medium to strong	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	-
94-118	weak to medium	very weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	weak to medium	strong	-

Profile description

Ap 0-10 cm	light brownish grey (10YR 6/2, dry) dark greyish brown (10YR 4/2, moist)silty clay,weak coarse subangular blocky,very hard firm very sticky very plastic,common very fine continuous tubular pores and common continuous tubular pores,abrupt smooth boundary to,
BA 10-21 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, dry) (dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)silty clay,moderate coarse subangular blocky,very hard firm very sticky very plastic,common medium distinct clear mottles (10 YR 5/6) and common medium distinct mottles (10 YR 5/8),patchy thin clay cutans,common very fine continuous tubular pores and common continuous tubular pores,few medium spherical soft calcareous concretions,clear wavy boundary to,
Bt1 21-47 cm	light brownish grey (10YR 6/2, dry) dark greyish brown (10YR 4/2, moist)silty clay,moderate medium subangular blocky and moderate fine subangular blocky,very hard firm very sticky very plastic,common medium distinct clear mottles (10 YR 5/6) and common medium distinct mottles (10 YR 5/8),continuous thin clay cutans,common very fine continuous tubular pores and common continuous tubular pores,clear wavy boundary to,
Bt2 47-67 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, dry) (dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)silty clay,weak medium angular blocky and weak medium subangular blocky,very hard firm very sticky very plastic,few medium distinct clear mottles (7.5 YR 4/4) and common medium distinct mottles (10 YR 5/6),continuous thin clay cutans,common very fine continuous tubular pores and common continuous tubular pores,few medium spherical soft calcareous concretions,clear wavy boundary to,
Bt3 67-82 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, dry) (dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)silty clay,weak medium and coarse subangular blocky,very hard firm very sticky very plastic,common medium distinct clear mottles (10 YR 5/6) and common medium distinct mottles (10 YR 5/8),patchy thin clay cutans,common very fine continuous tubular pores and common continuous tubular pores,few medium spherical soft calcareous concretions,abrupt wavy boundary to,
2Bb1 82-94 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, dry) (dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)silt loam,weak coarse subangular blocky,slightly hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,few medium distinct clear mottles (7.5 YR 4/4) and common medium distinct mottles (10 YR 5/6),common very fine continuous tubular pores and common continuous tubular pores,clear wavy boundary to,
2Bb2 94-118 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, dry) (10YR 4/2.5, moist)silt loam,weak coarse subangular blocky,slightly hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,few medium distinct clear mottles (7.5 YR 4/4) and common medium distinct mottles (10 YR 5/8),common very fine continuous tubular pores and common continuous tubular pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
2BC 118-147 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, dry) (10YR 4/3.5, moist)silt loam,weak coarse subangular blocky,slightly hard friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,few medium distinct clear mottles (7.5 YR 4/4) and common medium distinct mottles (10 YR 5/8),common very fine continuous tubular pores and common continuous tubular pores,very few medium spherical soft calcareous concretions,gradual smooth boundary to,

Depth1	82cm
Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	mixed lithology
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	fluvial
Texture of parent material (second entry)	loamy

Major crops	fodder crops
Land improvements ; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	land clearing
Main type of irrigation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	seasonally irrigated
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	Area cleared for arable farming

Altitude	38m
Physiographic Unit	see remarks
Physiographic position of the site	middle slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	alluvial terrace
Slope	1%
Slope Aspect	south-east
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	0-10cm
Depth to groundwater table	147cm
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	apparent
Moist From - To	10-147cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	slow
Estimated run off (class)	very slow
Wet From To	147cm

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	moderately alkaline
Surface cracking	small cracks (width less than 1 cm, or depth less than 50 cm)
Micro relief type: small-scale differences in relief in the direct vicinity of the site (FAO, 1986)	level

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Reference soil Pakistan 01: Calcisol

Characteristics

Reference soil PK001: Calcisol

Classification