Reference soil Pakistan 02: Cambisol

PK002

Cambisols occur mainly in the temperate and boreal regions of the world, where the soil’s parent material is still young or where low temperatures slow down the processes of soil formation.

Characteristics

Soils having either a cambic horizon (a horizon showing evidence of alteration with respect to the underlying material), or a mollic horizon overlying a subsoil, which has a base saturation of less than 50 percent in some part within 100 cm from the soil surface, or one of the following diagnostic horizons within the specified depth: an andic, vertic, or vitric horizon starting between 25 and 100 cm; a (petro-)plinthic or salic horizon starting between 50 and 100 cm, in absence of loamy sand or coarser textures above these horizons.

Distribution of Cambisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil PK002: Cambisol

Authors: Khanzada, Siddique, Cook, Lytle. Physiographic unit: Indistinct basins and channel infills in the subrecent river terraces, terrace No. 2 of Indus River Plain. Parent material: Mixed material from the Himalayas. Crops: Wheat and jenta; field first year under cultivation. Watertable: At 100 cm for at least 30 days in the year (as reported). pH-value (Thymol blue): Moderately alkaline throughout. Human influence: Reclamation efforts by leaching of salts. Additional notes on profile description: Bw1: Common medium distinct clear 7.5 YR 4/6 mottles. Bw4: Common medium distinct clear 7.5 YR 5/6 mottles. C: Common medium distinct sharp 2.5 YR 3/4 mottles. Horizons between 0 and 100 cm have occasional thin bands of organic material or charcoal pieces of 10 YR 2/1 and 10 YR 3/1. Brief description of the soil: A silty clayey, pale brown profile with dominating massive structure. The consistence is very hard when dry and firm when moist, very sticky and very plastic when wet. Below 19 cm appear strong brown mottles; rounded medium sized hard gypsum masses are common in the Ap, Ayz and Bw1 horizons, a few are also spread in the deeper horizons. Only a few medium pores appear in the C horizon, in the upper profile there are few to common very fine and fine discontinuous tubular pores. The whole profile is moderately alkaline. Climate data source: FAO Agroclimatological data: Asia 2; Rome 1987. References: Brinkman, F.R.: Soil genesis in West Pakistan; Pakistan Soil Bulletin No. 4, Lahore February 1971.

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	-	0.1	0.1	0.2	1.1	6.1	7.6	21.2	47.8	69	23.3
10-19	-	0.1	0.2	0.1	0	0.1	0.5	3.4	54.8	58.2	41.4
19-50	-	0	0	0	0	0.1	0.1	2.2	56.6	58.8	41.2
50-80	-	0	0	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.4	0.6	55.1	55.7	44
80-110	-	0	0	0	0.1	0.1	0.2	2.7	56.8	59.5	40.4
110-125	-	0	0.1	0.1	0.4	1.7	2.3	49.5	38.8	88.3	9.4
125-175	-	0	0	0	0.1	0.1	0.2	16.5	61.9	78.4	21.3

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-10	-	-	-	-	23.3
10-19	-	-	-	-	41.4
19-50	-	-	-	-	41.2
50-80	-	-	-	-	44
80-110	-	-	-	-	40.4
110-125	-	-	-	-	9.4
125-175	-	-	-	-	21.3

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	8.6	8.5	18	12.4	0.44	0.03	15	-	-	111.1	21.7	0.7	7.6	141.1
10-19	8.7	8.5	14.4	11.9	0.40	0.05	8	-	-	70.9	10.3	0.8	12.4	94.4
19-50	8.6	8.3	9.2	14.7	0.29	-	-	-	-	53.5	13.1	0.7	12.9	80.2
50-80	8.5	8.0	5.2	13.5	0.26	-	-	-	-	47.1	9.7	0.7	10.7	68.2
80-110	8.5	8.1	6.4	14.5	0.27	-	-	-	-	47.1	8.8	0.6	10.6	67.1
110-125	8.9	8.7	5.3	11.8	0.08	-	-	-	-	36.5	5.6	0.2	5.4	47.7
125-175	8.7	8.3	6.6	12.7	0.13	-	-	-	-	48.0	7.5	0.4	8.2	64.1

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	1344	10.5	45	1.5	-	-	72
10-19	579	16.3	39	1.4	-	-	76
19-50	418	19.2	47	1.0	-	-	67
50-80	350	19.5	44	0.9	-	-	55
80-110	367	18.3	45	0.9	-	-	58
110-125	734	6.5	69	0.3	-	-	83
125-175	557	11.5	54	0.5	-	-	71

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-10	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	-	weak	weak	weak	weak	weak	-
19-50	weak	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	very weak to weak	strong	-
80-110	weak	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	very weak to weak	strong	-
125-175	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	very weak to weak	strong	-

Profile description

Ap 0-10 cm	light brownish grey (10YR 6/2, dry) dark greyish brown (10YR 4/2, moist)silty clay loam,massive,hard firm sticky plastic,few fine continuous exped tubular pores and few continuous exped vesicular pores,few medium spherical hard gypsiferous concretions,abrupt smooth boundary to,
Ayz 10-19 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, dry) dark greyish brown (10YR 4/2, moist)silty clay,massive,very hard very firm sticky plastic,few very fine discontinuous tubular pores,medium medium hard gypsiferous concretions,abrupt smooth boundary to,
Bw1 19-50 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, dry) (dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)silty clay,weak coarse subangular blocky,very hard firm very sticky very plastic,common medium distinct clear mottles (10 YR 4/6) and common medium distinct mottles (7.5 YR 4/4),common very fine discontinuous tubular pores and common discontinuous tubular pores,few medium spherical hard gypsiferous concretions few medium irregular soft gypsiferous concretions,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bw2 50-80 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, dry) (dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)silty clay,weak coarse subangular blocky,very hard firm very sticky very plastic,few fine distinct clear mottles (7.5 YR 5/4),common very fine discontinuous tubular pores and common discontinuous tubular pores,very few medium spherical hard gypsiferous concretions,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bw3 80-110 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, dry) brown (10YR 5/3, moist)silty clay,massive,very hard firm very sticky very plastic,common medium distinct clear mottles (7.5 YR 5/4),few fine discontinuous tubular pores and common discontinuous tubular pores,very few medium spherical hard gypsiferous concretions,clear smooth boundary to,
Bw4 110-125 cm	pale brown (10YR 6/3, dry) brown (10YR 5/3, moist)silty clay,weak coarse platy,very hard firm very sticky very plastic,common medium distinct clear mottles (7.5 YR 3/4) and common medium distinct mottles (7.5 YR 4/4),few very fine discontinuous tubular pores and few discontinuous tubular pores,very few medium spherical hard gypsiferous concretions,clear smooth boundary to,
C 125-175 cm	light brownish grey (10YR 6/2, dry) greyish brown (10YR 5/2, moist)silt loam,massive,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,common medium distinct clear mottles (7.5 YR 5/4) and common medium distinct mottles (5 YR 3/4),few fine discontinuous tubular pores and few discontinuous tubular pores,very few medium spherical hard gypsiferous concretions,

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	wheat
Land improvements ; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	levelling
Main type of irrigation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	continuously irrigated
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	See remarks

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
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
(Estimated) maximum (lower) depth to groundwater table	0cm
Depth to groundwater table	167cm
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	apparent
(Estimated) minimum (upper) depth to groundwater table	100cm
Moist From - To	0-175cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	slow
Estimated run off (class)	very slow

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	moderately alkaline
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)	level
Evidence of salt; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	slightly saline

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Reference soil Pakistan 02: Cambisol

Characteristics

Reference soil PK002: Cambisol

Classification