Reference soil Spain 20: Calcisol

ES020

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 ES020: Calcisols

Location: on the right hand side of the road St. Ramon to Calaf, 100 m before the junction of this route with the route to Tora / Parent material: marl, siltstone and limestone / Surface characteristics: deep subsoiling has brought stone and gravel size calcrete to the surface, but no stones or rock outcrops / Mesorelief: man made stone walls, less than 1 m high and 300-500 m apart / Human influence: deep ploughing; that work has put the fragments of the petrocalcic horizon at the surface and mixed the Ap and B horizon with the calcic and petrocalcic. For further information on drainage, vegetation and land use see also remarks of profile ES019. Additional notes on profile description: Ap: few spheriodal-subrounded gravel size (0.2-6 cm) fragments of hard accumulations of calcium carbonate (parts of broken-up petrocalcic horizon), without any defined orientations and regulary distributed; Bwk: frequent tubular-subrounded gravel size (2-6 cm) fragments of broken-up petrocalcic, without any orientation and regulary distributed; disturbed by ploughing; no cementations; Ck: weakly cemented accumulations of calcium carbonate, somewhat disturbed and broken by deep ploughing; Cmk1: strongly cemented, continuous, extremely hard accumulations of calcium carbonate; Cmk2: very strongly cemented discontinuous extremely hard accumulations of calcium carbonate; Cmk3: very strongly cemented in some parts, extremely hard accumulations of calcium carbonate; R: hard strata of limestone, cracked in some places (>10 cm) with hard depositions of calcium carbonate on the cracks and in the lower part of the layers.

Classification

WRB 2014

Calcisol

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Orthi-Petric Calcisol

Calcic Cambisol petrocalcic

- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
- cm	petrocalcic horizon

- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
- cm	petrocalcic horizon

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Xerochrept xeric fine-loamy carbonatic mesic

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
0-24	-	0.1	0.1	1.7	9.1	15.1	26.1	30.9	26.3	57.2	16.8
24-39	-	0.1	0.1	3.8	18	13.1	35.1	17.2	19.3	36.5	28.4

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-24	-	-	-	-	16.8
10-20	1.482	-	-	-	-
30-40	1.355	-	-	-	-
24-39	-	-	-	-	28.4

Other physical data

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	pF 0 % v/v	pF 1.0 % v/v	pF 1.5 % v/v	pF 2.0 % v/v	pF 2.3 % v/v	pF 2.7 % v/v	pF 3.4 % v/v	pF 4.2 % v/v
10-20	1.482	52.6	50.8	47.3	39.5	36.9	30.8	22.5	19
30-40	1.355	56.1	54.6	47.4	41.7	39.2	33.8	26.1	22.1

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
0-24	7.9	7.3	0.3	35.5	1.26	-	-	-	-	32.1	0.5	0.5	0.0	33.1
24-39	7.9	7.7	0.38	72.1	0.83	-	-	-	-	25.4	0.3	0.3	0.0	26
39-52	8.2	7.9	0.29	91.3	0.55	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
52-65	8.5	8.3	0.24	99.7	0.32	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
65-70	8.1	7.8	0.3	96.5	1.11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
70-75	8.2	8.0	0.27	97.2	0.83	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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 %
0-24	188	17.6	105	4.4	-	-	-
24-39	-	6.9	24	2.9	-	-	-
39-52	-	-	-	1.9	-	-	-
52-65	-	-	-	1.1	-	-	-
65-70	-	-	-	3.9	-	-	-
70-75	-	-	-	2.9	-	-	-

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
0-24	-	-	-	0.09	0.03	0.79	0.06	0.01	0.03	-	0.06
24-39	-	-	-	0.07	0.01	0.37	0.04	0.01	0.04	-	0.01
39-52	-	-	-	0.02	0.01	0.22	0.02	0	0.04	-	0
52-65	-	-	-	0	0	0.02	0	0	0.01	-	0
65-70	-	-	-	0.02	0.01	0.09	0.02	0.01	0.04	-	0
70-75	-	-	-	0.01	0.01	0.04	0.02	0	0.02	-	0

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-24	weak to medium	very weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	very weak	weak to medium	-
24-39	weak to medium	very weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	very weak	weak to medium	-
39-52	weak	very weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	very weak	weak to medium	-
52-65	-	very weak	-	-	-	-	weak	very weak to weak	weak	very weak	weak	-
65-70	-	very weak	-	-	-	-	weak	very weak to weak	weak	very weak	weak	-
70-75	-	very weak	-	-	-	-	weak	very weak to weak	weak	very weak	weak to medium	-

Profile description

Ap 0-24 cm	light brown (7.5YR 6/4, dry) dark brown (7.5YR 3/4, moist)silt loam slightly gravelly,weak medium granular,hard friable slightly sticky,abrupt wavy boundary to,
Bk 24-39 cm	pinkish white (5YR 8/2, dry) pink (5YR 7/4, moist)clay loam gravelly,weak fine subangular blocky,hard friable slightly sticky,medium calcareous nodules,abrupt wavy boundary to,
Ck 39-52 cm	pink (5YR 7/3, moist)weakly coherent massive,abrupt wavy boundary to,
Ckm1 52-65 cm	(2.5YR 8/2, moist)strongly coherent massive,discontinuous massive strongly cemented petrocalcic pans,abrupt wavy boundary to,
Ckm2 65-70 cm	very pale brown (10YR 7/3, moist)strongly coherent massive,continuous massive indurated petrocalcic pans,abrupt wavy boundary to,
Ckm3 70-75 cm	very pale brown (10YR 7/3, moist)strongly coherent massive,continuous massive indurated petrocalcic pans,abrupt wavy boundary to,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	interbedded sedimentary rock
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	solid rock
Soil Depth	40cm

Major crops	cereals (unspecified)
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	See remarks of ES019

Altitude	700m
Physiographic Unit	Ebro basin, back front cuesta
Physiographic position of the site	upper slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	basin
Slope	2%
Slope Aspect	south-west
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

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	0-80cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	moderate
Estimated run off (class)	medium

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
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)	fairly stony

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Reference soil Spain 20: Calcisol

Characteristics

Reference soil ES020: Calcisols

Classification