Reference soil South Africa 14: Arenosol

ZA014

Arenosols occur over large areas in Africa, central and western Australia, the Middle East and central China. Smaller areas are found along coastlines all over the world.

Characteristics

Soils with a loamy sand or coarser texture either to a depth of at least 100 cm from the soil surface, or to a (petro-)plinthic or salic horizon between 50 and 100 cm from the soil surface. They contain less than 35 percent (by volume) rock fragments or other coarse fragments within 100 cm from the soil surface and have no diagnostic horizons other than an ochric, yermic or albic horizon, a (petro-)plinthic or salic horizon below 50 cm from the soil surface, or an argic or spodic horizon below 200 cm below the soil surface.

Distribution of Arenosols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil ZA014: Arenosols

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON PROFILE DESCRIPTION: C1 - Slightly cemented when dry; Few animal burrows filled with Ah material 2cm in diameter. C2 - Very weakly cemented when dry; Colour of clay cutans at 95 and 100cm: 7.5YR3/3.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Lamellic- Arenosol (Dystric)

Dystri-Albic- Arenosol

22-140 cm

albic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Luvi-Albic Arenosol

Albic Arenosol

0-22 cm	ochric A horizon
22-140 cm	albic E horizon

0-22 cm	ochric A horizon
22-140 cm	albic E horizon
-	albic material

Local classification:	Fernwood Form, Cornubia Family

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Argic Quartzipsamment
USDA-SCS (1975)	Argic Quartzipsamment ustic 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
0-22	-	0.9	7.2	28.1	36.3	6.8	79.3	14.5	3.4	17.9	2.9
22-35	-	1.1	7.3	31.5	35.3	6.1	81.3	11.8	4.8	16.6	2.2
35-70	1	1.9	7.7	32.2	32.3	6.0	80.1	12.3	4.9	17.2	2.8
70-100	0	1.5	8.4	34.0	33.7	5.5	83.1	10.8	4.5	15.3	1.6
100-120	0	2.0	7.3	30.7	36.6	7.0	83.6	9.0	5.8	14.8	1.6

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-22	-	-	-	-	2.9
22-35	-	-	-	-	2.2
35-70	-	-	-	-	2.8
70-100	-	-	-	-	1.6
100-120	-	-	-	-	1.6

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
0-22	5.9	4.7	0.04	-	0.43	0.04	11	-	-	1.0	0.2	0.1	0.3	1.6
22-35	5.8	4.6	0.01	-	0.31	0.03	10	-	-	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.0	0.7
35-70	5.7	4.5	0.01	-	0.27	0.03	9	-	-	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.4
70-100	5.6	4.5	0.01	-	0.16	0.06	3	-	-	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.1
100-120	5.5	4.6	0.01	-	0.16	0.05	3	-	-	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.1

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 %
0-22	46	3.5	121	1.5	-	-	9
22-35	78	0.9	41	1.1	-	-	0
35-70	44	0.9	32	0.9	-	-	0
70-100	25	0.4	25	0.6	-	-	0
100-120	-	-	-	0.6	-	-	-

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
0-22	-	-	-	-	-	0.3	0	-	-	-	-
22-35	-	-	-	-	-	0.2	0	-	-	-	-
35-70	-	-	-	-	-	0.2	0	-	-	-	-
70-100	-	-	-	-	-	0.1	0	-	-	-	-
100-120	-	-	-	-	-	0.1	0	-	-	-	-

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
0-22	58.8	21.5	7.1	0.02	0.47	1.27	-	1.78
22-35	70.0	15.6	5.6	0.01	0.42	1.39	-	2.19
35-70	70.8	14.8	5.5	0.01	0.39	1.34	-	2.52
70-100	75.0	11.8	4.8	0.00	0.31	1.14	-	3.12
100-120	76.9	10.6	4.6	0.01	0.25	1.05	-	3.19

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
0-22	0.08	0.47	8.7	100.1	4.6	22.1	3.8	4.8
22-35	0.10	0.32	6.1	101.73	7.6	33.2	6.2	4.4
35-70	0.10	0.30	5.7	101.46	8.1	34.2	6.6	4.2
70-100	0.04	0.28	5.1	101.59	10.8	41.5	8.6	3.9
100-120	0.03	0.21	4.2	100.9	12.4	44.8	9.7	3.6

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
0-22	1.2	0.00	0.6	0.23	0.01	-	96.2	0.26
22-35	1.4	0.00	0.6	0.46	0.02	-	97.2	0.38
35-70	1.3	0.00	0.6	0.48	0.01	-	97.9	0.40
70-100	1.1	0.00	0.6	0.47	0.00	-	98.5	0.41
100-120	1.1	0.00	0.5	0.47	0.01	-	98.2	0.41

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
0-22	3.1	0.9	0.00	0.01	136	426.1	103.1
22-35	3.7	0.8	0.01	0.01	117.8	430.5	92.5
35-70	3.4	0.6	0.00	0.01	127.8	433.6	98.7
70-100	2.9	0.3	0.00	0.01	151.9	436.3	112.7
100-120	3.4	0.3	0.00	0.01	151.5	522	117.4

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-22	-	-	-	-	-	-	strong	-	very weak to weak	strong	-	-
22-35	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	very weak to weak	strong	-	-
35-70	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	very weak to weak	strong	-	-
70-100	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	very weak to weak	strong	-	-
100-120	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	very weak to weak	strong	-	-

Profile description

Ah 0-22 cm	(5YR 4.5/3, dry)Description sand,structureless,loose (dry and moist) non sticky non plastic,no cutans,many fine roots,no inclusions,no fragments,non calcareous,clear wavy boundary to,
E1 22-60 cm	brown (7.5YR 5/2, dry)Description sand,structureless,loose (moist) non sticky non plastic,patchy thin clay cutans throughout,no inclusions,no fragments,few mammal channels,non calcareous,gradual smooth boundary to,
E2 60-140 cm	pinkish grey (5YR 6/2, dry)Description sand,structureless,loose (moist) non sticky non plastic,patchy thin clay cutans as horizontal lamellae,no inclusions,no fragments,non calcareous,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	sandstone
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	Table Mountain Sandstone formation
Soil Depth	150cm
Texture of parent material	sandy
Weathering Resistance	moderate
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	highly

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	absent
Slope stability	stable

Land improvements ; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	terracing
Main type of irrigation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	no irrigation
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: When not terraced, land would erode
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	grassland

Altitude	600m
Physiographic Unit	middle part of colluvial slope
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.	hill
Slope	9%
Slope Aspect	north-west
Form of the slope surrounding the site	convex
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	hilly

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	excessive
Dry From - To	0-120cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	120-150cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	high
Estimated run off (class)	medium

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)	no surface slaking/crusting observed
Micro relief type: small-scale differences in relief in the direct vicinity of the site (FAO, 1986)	level
Microrelief pattern	none
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 South Africa 14: Arenosol

Characteristics

Reference soil ZA014: Arenosols

Classification