Reference soil Uruguay 05: Vertisol

UY005

Vertisols occur dominantly in level landscapes under climates with a pronounced dry season. Vast areas are found in Australia, India, northeastern Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia), southern Latin America and the USA.

Characteristics

Soils having a vertic horizon (a clayey subsurface horizon with polished and grooved ped surfaces ("slickensides") or wedge-shaped or parallelepiped structural aggregates) within 100 cm from the soil surface. They have 30 percent or more clay in all horizons to a depth of 100 cm or more, or to a contrasting layer (lithic or paralithic contact, petrocalcic, petroduric or petrogypsic horizons, sedimentary discontinuity, etc.) between 50 and 100 cm, after the upper 20 cm have been mixed. In addition, Vertisols exhibit wide cracks, which open and close periodically.

Distribution of Vertisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil UY005: Vertisols

GEOLOGICAL FORMATION: Libertad quarternary period MOISTURE: Soil is slightly dryer below 20 cm. SURFACE DRAINAGE: Coarse dendritic VEGETATION: (regional, local) Trees (1%, 1%); Herbs (20%, 19%); Grasses (29%, 80%); Bare ground (50%, -). Dominant species are Stipa charruana, Paspalum dilatatum, Bothriochloa laguroides, Eryngium horridum, Bacharis coridifolia, Stenotaphrum secunaatum. LITERATURE: Terzaghi, A. Características Físicas de los principales suelos agrícolas de Canelones-Montevideo. Technical Bulletin No. 8 part 1 and 2. Canelones-Montevideo soil chart (1:100.000)

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Grumic- Vertisol (Calcaric Humic Pellic)

Grumi-Pellic- Vertisol (Hypereutric)

33-102 cm	vertic horizon
-	calcaric

0-33 cm	ochric horizon
33-102 cm	vertic horizon
-	calcaric

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Pelli-Calcic Vertisol gilgai

Pellic Vertisol

0-33 cm	ochric A horizon
33-102 cm	cambic B horizon
-	slickensides
-	soft powdery lime

0-33 cm	ochric A horizon
-	slickensides
-	soft powdery lime

Local classification:	Vertisol ruptico

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	-	0.0	0.1	0.4	0.8	3.6	4.9	30.3	22.8	53.1	41.9
10-33	-	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.7	3.2	4.1	23.0	21.4	44.4	51.6
33-73	-	0.0	0.1	0.2	0.5	2.7	3.5	19.7	23.5	43.2	53.3
73-102	-	0.0	0.2	0.2	0.6	3.0	4.0	26.4	24.1	50.5	45.6
102-145	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	1.7	1.8	15.3	21.3	36.6	61.6
145-	-	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.2	1.3	1.6	16.1	22.4	38.5	59.9

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-10	1.072	-	-	-	41.9
10-33	1.170	-	-	-	51.6
33-73	1.192	-	-	-	53.3
73-102	-	-	-	-	45.6
102-145	-	-	-	-	61.6
145-	-	-	-	-	59.9

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
0-10	1.072	52.2	49.9	47.4	47.4	43.9	42.5	31.9	28.2
10-33	1.170	54.7	54.7	47.0	45.9	45.0	43.9	40.1	34.6
33-73	1.192	53.6	53.0	48.7	47.7	46.5	45.0	41.9	35.6

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
0-10	6.2	5.4	0.46	2.1	4.32	0.38	11	-	-	33.3	4.9	1.3	0.2	39.7
10-33	6.7	5.5	0.25	2.5	1.16	-	-	-	-	41.7	7.6	0.7	0.6	50.6
33-73	6.8	5.5	0.23	2.4	1.33	0.12	11	-	-	40.4	8.4	0.6	0.4	49.8
73-102	7.7	6.1	0.2	3.7	1.12	0.07	16	-	-	35.8	9.6	0.4	0.9	46.7
102-145	8.5	7.0	0.4	13.2	0.20	-	-	-	-	39.1	14.0	0.8	2.3	56.2
145-	8.3	6.8	0.51	4.4	0.08	-	-	-	-	31.2	13.0	0.8	3.4	48.4

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 %
0-10	97	41.0	98	15.1	-	-	0
10-33	111	45.4	88	4.1	-	-	1
33-73	107	46.5	87	4.7	-	-	1
73-102	111	42.1	92	3.9	-	-	2
102-145	139	40.4	66	0.7	-	-	6
145-	123	39.4	66	0.3	-	-	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
0-10	-	-	-	0.09	0.06	0.29	0.07	0.04	0.07	-	0.12
10-33	-	-	-	0.11	0.09	0.34	0.09	0.03	0.07	-	0.10
33-73	-	-	-	0.13	0.09	0.37	0.10	0.02	0.04	-	0.15
73-102	-	-	-	0.11	0.08	0.38	0.09	0.02	0.07	-	0.12
102-145	-	-	-	0.07	0.10	0.26	0.05	0.01	0.01	-	0.04
145-	-	-	-	0.07	0.10	0.34	0.09	0.00	0.00	-	0.03

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-10	-	weak	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	weak	-	medium to strong	very strong	-
10-33	-	weak	-	-	-	-	very weak	very weak to weak	-	strong	medium to strong	-
33-73	-	weak	-	-	-	-	very weak	very weak	-	strong	strong	-
73-102	-	weak	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	very weak	-	medium to strong	strong	-
102-145	-	weak	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	very weak	-	weak	very strong	-
145-	-	weak	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	very weak	-	weak	very strong	-

Profile description

Ap 0-10 cm	black (10YR 2/1, dry) black (10YR 2/1, moist)silty clay,strong coarse granular,very hard friable very plastic,very few medium gravel weathered Quartz fragments,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Ah1 10-33 cm	(10YR 2.5/1, dry) black (10YR 2/1, moist)silty clay,strong coarse angular blocky,very hard friable very plastic,few medium gravel weathered Quartz fragments,diffuse wavy boundary to,
Ah2 33-73 cm	very dark grey (10YR 3/1, dry) (10YR 3.5/1, moist)silty clay,strong very coarse angular blocky,very hard very firm very plastic,continuous slickensides cutans,few medium gravel weathered Quartz fragments,diffuse wavy boundary to,
Ah3 73-102 cm	dark grey (10YR 4/1, dry) very dark grey (10YR 3/1, moist)silty clay,strong very coarse wedge-shaped angular blocky,very hard very firm very plastic,continuous slickensides cutans,few medium gravel weathered Quartz fragments,abrupt wavy boundary to,
C1 102-145 cm	(dark) brown (7.5YR 4/4, dry) brown (7.5YR 5/4, moist)silty clay slightly gravelly,strong wedge-shaped angular blocky,very hard very firm very plastic,continuous slickensides cutans,few medium irregular soft calcareous concretions few large irregular hard calcareous concretions,very few medium gravel weathered Quartz fragments,diffuse wavy boundary to,
C2 43- cm	silty clay loam slightly gravellystrong very coarse wedge-shaped angular blocky,very hard firm very plastic,continuous slickensides cutans,few medium irregular soft calcareous concretions few large irregular hard calcareous concretions,very few medium gravel weathered Quartz fragments,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	shale
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Texture of parent material	silty
Weathering Resistance	poor

Intensity of the soil erosion type	slight
Intensity of the soil erosion type (second entry)	slight
Soil erosion type	sheet
Soil erosion type (second entry)	sheet

Major crops	vegetables
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	high level arable farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: Trees (1%), herbs (19%), grasses (80%), bare ground (0%). Dominant species: Stipa charruana, Paspalum dilatatum, Bothriochloa laguroides, Eryngium horridum, Bacharis coridifolia, Stenotaphrum secunaat LANDUSE:
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	grassland

Altitude	25m
Physiographic position of the site	crest
Slope	3%
Slope Aspect	west
Form of the slope surrounding the site	convex
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	imperfect
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	slow
Estimated run off (class)	medium

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	slightly alkaline
Surface cracking	large cracks (width more than 1 cm, or depth more than 50 cm)
Microrelief Height: variation in height	23
Micro relief type: small-scale differences in relief in the direct vicinity of the site (FAO, 1986)	gilgai
Microrelief pattern	reticulate
Evidence of salt; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-saline

You are here

Reference soil Uruguay 05: Vertisol

Characteristics

Reference soil UY005: Vertisols

Classification