Reference soil Sri Lanka 03: Gleysol

LK003

Gleysols occur throughout the world where groundwater comes near to the surface, causing soils to become wet for a prolonged part of the year. They are particularly abundant in the low-lying river basins.

Characteristics

Soils having gleyic properties (properties associated with prolonged wetness) within 50 cm from the soil surface. They have no diagnostic horizons other than an anthraquic, histic, mollic, ochric, takyric, or umbric horizon at the surface, or an andic, calcic, cambic, gypsic, plinthic, salic, sulfuric, or vitric horizon within 100 cm from the soil surface.

Distribution of Gleysols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil LK003: Gleysols

Parent material: Weathered gneisses, Highland series (precambrian). Mineralogy: Quartz (fine to coarse), mica (fine spects), feldspar. Soil aggradation: Very slight by water. Vegetation and land use: Also some mixed tree crops ( mixed forest home gardens). Human influence: Hill slope is terraced for wet rice. Additional notes on profile description: Ap1g: Also medium and coarse fresh quartz gravel and stones. Bt1g: Also fine (slightly) weathered mica and quartz. Bt2g: Also few very fine and fine feldspar fragments; few medium and coarse (slightly) weathered mica, quartz and feldspar gravel and stones. BC: Also frequent medium and coarse, (slightly) weathered feldspar; frequent fine, (slightly) weathered mica, feldspar and quartz. C: Parent rock (gneiss).

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
0-15	-	7.6	10.3	14	19.9	9.8	61.6	7.3	13.9	21.2	17.2
15-21	-	8.8	10.6	14.5	19	8.7	61.6	6.1	14.4	20.5	17.9
21-29	-	7	9.4	14.5	19.1	9.1	59.1	6.4	14.6	21	19.8
29-44	-	5.9	9.3	16.1	21.7	9.7	62.7	7.2	13.1	20.3	17
44-58	-	4.7	9.3	16.8	23.4	9.8	64	5.8	13.2	19	17.1
58-125	-	5	17.8	19.9	21.9	8.9	73.5	9.8	11.1	20.9	5.5

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-15	1.34	-	-	-	17.2
15-21	1.4	-	-	-	17.9
21-29	1.44	-	-	-	19.8
29-44	1.49	-	-	0	17
44-58	1.43	-	-	-	17.1
58-125	1.28	-	-	-	5.5

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
0-15	1.34	48.4	45.2	40	34.5	29.8	27.4	17.6	15.3
15-21	1.4	49.3	46.8	40.6	33.3	29.6	26.7	18.5	16.6
21-29	1.44	44.5	43.5	38.7	31.9	28.5	26.5	20.3	18.3
29-44	1.49	43.2	41.9	37.6	31	28.4	25.4	20	17.5
44-58	1.43	43.6	41.5	36.4	28.8	26.1	24	18.4	16.7
58-125	1.28	51.6	49.3	42.1	34.2	29.5	25.7	14.5	14.5

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
0-15	5.0	3.8	0.08	-	0.91	0.09	10	-	-	3.5	1.2	0	0.2	4.9
15-21	5.5	4.3	0.06	-	0.70	0.08	9	-	-	4.5	1.8	0	0.3	6.6
21-29	6.5	5.0	0.06	-	0.46	0.06	8	-	-	6.2	2.5	0	0.3	9
29-44	6.3	5.0	0.07	-	0.36	0.06	6	-	-	8.0	3.4	0	0.2	11.6
44-58	7.4	5.1	0.06	-	0.16	0.07	2	0	0	8.9	4.0	0	0.2	13.1
58-125	7.3	4.8	0.05	-	0.07	0.03	2	-	-	14.6	6.1	0.1	0.3	21.1

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 %
0-15	37	13.1	76	3.2	-	-	-
15-21	50	13.1	73	2.4	-	-	-
21-29	65	13.8	70	1.6	-	-	-
29-44	76	15.3	90	1.3	-	-	-
44-58	77	17.1	100	0.6	-	0	-
58-125	78	-	-	0.2	-	-	-

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
0-15	-	-	-	0.13	0.01	1.77	0.15	0.32	0.23	-	0.68
15-21	-	-	-	0.12	0.03	2.24	0.18	0.27	0.18	-	0.71
21-29	-	-	-	0.15	0.04	2.38	0.22	0.23	0.2	-	0.51
29-44	-	-	-	0.14	0.04	2.21	0.21	0.22	0.27	-	0.4
44-58	-	-	-	0.13	0.04	2.57	0.19	0.13	0.18	-	0.25
58-125	-	-	-	0.17	0.06	2.9	0.13	0.01	0.02	-	0.38

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
0-15	17.6	2.44	7.2	2.48	1.53	-	60.9	0.99
15-21	17.7	2.54	7.7	2.40	1.55	-	59.8	1.02
21-29	18.4	2.43	8.1	2.41	1.62	-	59.4	1.11
29-44	18.7	2.61	8.2	2.58	1.5	-	57.0	1.07
44-58	19.4	2.97	8.5	2.74	1.55	-	54.6	0.98
58-125	14.3	8.22	17	2.46	4.51	-	44	0.74

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
0-15	3.8	5.1	0.04	0.13	5.9	22.5	4.7
15-21	3.6	4.9	0.08	0.13	5.7	20.7	4.5
21-29	3.6	5.7	0.16	0.11	5.5	19.5	4.3
29-44	3.6	5.6	0.16	0.09	5.2	18.5	4.0
44-58	3.6	5.9	0.14	0.12	4.8	17.1	3.7
58-125	1.3	6.8	0.38	0.18	5.2	6.9	3.0

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-15	-	-	very weak to weak	weak to medium	-	-	strong	weak to medium	very weak to weak	-	medium to strong	very weak
15-21	-	-	very weak to weak	weak to medium	-	-	strong	weak to medium	very weak to weak	-	medium to strong	very weak
21-29	-	-	weak	weak to medium	-	-	strong	weak to medium	weak	-	weak to medium	very weak to weak
29-44	-	-	very weak to weak	weak to medium	-	-	medium to strong	weak to medium	weak	-	weak to medium	very weak to weak
44-58	-	-	very weak to weak	weak to medium	-	-	weak to medium	very weak	weak	-	weak to medium	very weak to weak
58-125	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	-	weak to medium	very weak to weak	weak	-	weak	-

Profile description

Apg1 0-15 cm	(2.5Y 4/3, moist)sandy clay loam slightly gravelly,moderate coarse subangular blocky,very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,common fine distinct clear mottles (7.5 YR 4/6),no cutans,common fine continuous inped tubular pores,no inclusions,very few medium gravel fresh Mica, feldspar very few coarse gravel fresh Mica, feldspar fragments,abrupt smooth boundary to,
Apg2 15-21 cm	(2.5Y 4/3, moist)sandy clay loam gravelly,moderate to strong coarse subangular blocky,very friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many fine prominent sharp mottles (2.5 YR 3/6) and many fine distinct mottles (7.5 YR 4/6),no cutans,common fine continuous inped tubular pores,very few medium spherical hard ferruginous concretions,few medium gravel Quartz, mica few coarse gravel Quartz, mica fragments,abrupt smooth boundary to,
Btg1 21-29 cm	(dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)sandy clay loam slightly gravelly,strong coarse subangular blocky,friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,common fine distinct diffuse mottles (10 R 5/8),continuous thin manganese (hydr-)oxide cutans,common fine continuous inped tubular pores,very few medium spherical hard ferruginous concretions,very few medium gravel weathered Quartz, mica very few coarse gravel weathered Quartz, mica fragments,clear smooth boundary to,
Btg2 29-44 cm	(dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)sandy clay loam gravelly,strong coarse subangular blocky,friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,few fine distinct diffuse mottles (7.5 YR 5/6),broken thin manganese (hydr-)oxide cutans,many fine continuous inped tubular pores,very few medium spherical hard ferruginous concretions,few fine gravel fresh Quartz, mica few fine gravel fresh Quartz, mica fragments,gradual smooth boundary to,
44-58 cm	(dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)sandy clay loam very gravelly,moderate coarse subangular blocky,friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,patchy thin manganese (hydr-)oxide cutans,many fine continuous inped tubular pores,no inclusions,frequent medium gravel weathered Quartz, mica frequent coarse gravel weathered Quartz, mica fragments,clear wavy boundary to,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	gneiss
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	solid rock
Texture of parent material (second entry)	loamy

Major crops	rice
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)	paddy
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	low level arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	Wet rice, puddling, flooded, handweeding
Rotation scheme ; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	crop rotation scheme not relevant

Altitude	550m
Physiographic Unit	hill slope, terraced for rice
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	5%
Slope Aspect	east
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	moderately well
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	yearly
Nature of flood water	still or stagnant
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	0-125cm
Estimated run off (class)	ponded

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Surface cracking	small cracks (width less than 1 cm, or depth less than 50 cm)
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)	artificial terracing/mounds
Microrelief pattern	linear
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 Sri Lanka 03: Gleysol

Characteristics

Reference soil LK003: Gleysols

Classification