Reference soil Pakistan 06: Luvisol

PK006

Luvisols occur mainly in temperate regions, particularly in areas with a Mediterranean-type of climate.

Characteristics

Soils having an argic horizon (a subsurface horizon with a distinct higher clay content than the overlying horizon) with a cation exchange capacity equal to or more than 24 cmolc per kg clay throughout.

Distribution of Luvisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil PK006: Luvisol

Authors: Abdulhamid, Yousaf, Cook, Lytle. Location: About 5 km NW of Murree about 525 m on Jheeka Gali Road from crossing of Muzaffarabad Road and Jheeka Gali Road. Parent material: Weathered from interbedded calcarious sandstone, shale and slate bedrock over local colluvium from same rocks; underlying bedrock has undergone varying rates of weathering depending on hardness and kind of interbedded material; structure horizons 5-8 controlled by rock fragments; soft shale crushes into silty clay loam. Mineralogy: Mixed consisting of mica, kaolinite, chlorite, and vermiculite. Permeability: VERY slow. Aggradation: Slight deposition by water. Surface drainage: Dendritic, parallel. Vegetation: Common local Blue Pine. Soil fauna: worms and insects. Some colours may be 2.5 YR or 10 R hue because of low light conditions. pH-value (Cresol red): horizons 1,2: mildly, 3-8: moderately alkaline Additional notes on profile description: O (2-0 cm): Undecomposed and partially decomposed litter of fir, pine needles, leaves and twigs. Bt1: Many continuous pressure faces on faces of peds. Bt2: Continuous thick pressure faces on faces of peds; also few medium to coarse tubular continuous pores. 3Bt4: Many pressure faces on faces of peds. 5Crt2: Additional matrix colours: 2.5 YR 3/4, 5 YR 3/3. Brief description of the soil: A clayey over clayey loamy textured, dark reddish brown and dark reddish gray profile, that shows its partly colluvial origin through many continuous pressure faces on ped faces in the topsoil. It is mildly alkaline in the upper 30 cm and moderately below. Skeletal components - soft shale and sandstone fragments - are increasing with depth. Many very fine, common fine and a few medium to coarse pores appear in the horizons 1-3, only common very fine pores below. Clay cutans are abundant as continuous to broken throughout the profile even as patchy in the upper top of the A horizon. In horizons 1-3 the structure is quite differentiated, but mostly subangular blocky and falls apart into smaller peds. Downwards the structure becomes massive with exception of horizon 5 (fine to very fine subangular blocky), which has also a slightly different parent material. 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.

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
0-11	-	0	0.1	0.2	3.7	7.4	11.4	14.9	43.6	58.5	30.2
11-30	-	0	0.1	0.3	2.9	6.3	9.6	15.8	40.7	56.5	34
30-52	-	0	0.1	0.1	0.9	6.4	7.5	14.5	39.6	54.1	38.6
52-58	-	0	0	0.1	0.6	5	5.7	16.1	41.9	58	36.3
58-87	-	0	0	0.1	0.3	2.1	2.5	17	41.7	58.7	38.8
87-115	-	0	0	0.1	0.3	2	2.4	15.1	41.7	56.8	40.9

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-11	-	-	-	-	30.2
11-30	-	-	-	-	34
30-52	-	-	-	-	38.6
52-58	-	-	-	-	36.3
58-87	-	-	-	-	38.8
87-115	-	-	-	-	40.9

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
0-11	6.0	5.1	0.22	-	1.87	0.18	10	-	-	18.1	2.0	0.2	0.0	20.3
11-30	6.1	5.0	0.15	-	1.22	0.13	9	-	-	16.2	2.0	0.2	0.0	18.4
30-52	5.9	4.4	0.06	-	0.25	-	-	-	-	14.3	1.7	0.2	0.0	16.2
52-58	5.6	3.8	0.04	-	0.15	-	-	-	-	13.8	1.3	0.2	0.0	15.3
58-87	5.9	4.3	0.06	-	0.26	-	-	-	-	15.5	1.7	0.2	0.0	17.4
87-115	6.6	4.9	0.07	0.4	0.14	-	-	-	-	19.1	1.0	0.2	0.1	20.4

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 %
0-11	91	22.4	74	6.5	-	-	-
11-30	95	19.3	57	4.3	-	-	-
30-52	99	16.4	42	0.9	-	-	-
52-58	85	18	50	0.5	-	-	-
58-87	89	19.6	51	0.9	-	-	-
87-115	97	21.1	52	0.5	-	-	-

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-11	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak	weak to medium	very weak	-	weak
30-52	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	-	weak	weak	weak to medium	very weak	-	very weak to weak
58-87	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	-	weak	weak	weak to medium	very weak	-	-

Profile description

needles slightly

A 2-13 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2, moist)silty clay loam needles moderately,weak fine subangular blocky parting to weak medium subangular blocky,friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,patchy thin clay in root channels and pores cutans,many very fine continuous tubular pores and common continuous tubular pores,frequent channels,clear wavy boundary to,
Bt1 13-32 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, moist)clay,moderate medium and coarse prismatic parting to strong medium and coarse subangular blocky,very firm slightly sticky very plastic,continuous moderately thick clay in root channels and pores cutans,many very fine continuous tubular pores and common continuous tubular pores,very few strongly weathered soft shale fragments,gradual wavy boundary to,
Bt2 32-54 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, moist)clay,weak coarse subangular blocky parting to weak medium subangular blocky,firm slightly sticky very plastic,continuous thin clay in root channels and pores cutans,many very fine continuous tubular pores and common medium continuous tubular pores,very few strongly weathered soft shale fragments,clear wavy boundary to,
2Bt3 54-60 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/2, moist)clay loam,massive,firm slightly sticky slightly plastic,broken thin clay in root channels and pores cutans,common very fine discontinuous interstitial pores and few discontinuous tubular pores,frequent strongly weathered soft sandstone fragments,clear wavy boundary to,
3Bt4 60-89 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, moist)silty clay,moderate very fine angular blocky parting to moderate fine angular blocky,friable sticky plastic,broken thin clay in root channels and pores cutans,common very fine tubular pores and few tubular pores,very frequent strongly weathered soft shale fragments,gradual smooth boundary to,
4Btk 89-117 cm	reddish brown (5YR 4/3, moist)silty clay very gravelly,massive,friable sticky plastic,broken thick clay in root channels and pores cutans,common very fine discontinuous tubular pores,very frequent strongly weathered sandstone very frequent strongly weathered soft shale fragments,clear wavy boundary to,
5Cr1 117-129 cm	dark reddish grey (5YR 4/2, moist)silty clay loam,massive,friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,broken thin clay on rock fragments cutans,many very fine discontinuous tubular pores,dominant strongly weathered soft shale fragments,clear wavy boundary to,
5Cr2 129-152 cm	dark reddish grey (5YR 4/2, moist)silty clay loam,massive,very firm slightly sticky plastic,broken thin clay on rock fragments cutans,dominant strongly weathered soft shale fragments,

Depth1	52cm
Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	sandstone/shale
Kind 2 (parent material) (second entry); Parker (eds), 1984	sandstone/shale
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	colluvial
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material (second entry)	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	see remarks
Texture of parent material	loamy
Texture of parent material (second entry)	loamy

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	present
Intensity of the soil erosion type	moderate
Slope stability	highly unstable

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	afforestation
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	Coniferes, some oaks, shrubs, forbes
Status of vegetation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	primary
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	semi-deciduous forest

Altitude	2000m
Physiographic Unit	on side slope in moutains
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.	mountain
Slope	5%
Slope Aspect	north
Form of the slope surrounding the site	convex
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	mountainous

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	0-150cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	slow
Estimated run off (class)	medium

Micro relief type: small-scale differences in relief in the direct vicinity of the site (FAO, 1986)	dimples
Rock outcrop class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	very rocky
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	very stony

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Reference soil Pakistan 06: Luvisol

Characteristics

Reference soil PK006: Luvisol

Classification