Reference soil Zambia 01: Podzol

ZM001

Distribution of Podzols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Very deep, somewhat excessively drained, very dark gray to very dark brown sandy soil developed in Kalahari (Barotse) sands. This The black topsoil contains bleached sand grains and is covered by a thin layer of bleached sand where litter accumulation is lacking. The very dark gray (eluvial) part of the subsoil also contains some bleached sand grains and overlies a thick, very dark brown (illuvial) layer stained by organic coatings. The soil reaction is extremely acid in the eluvial layers and strongly to very strongly acid in the illuvial and lower layers.

Classification : FAO: Coarse textured. USDA: Ustic Arenic Haplohumod, this is a tentative new subgroup due to the ustic moisture regime (normally udic) According to laboratory data org C is less than 0.6% in the upper 30 cm of the spodic B --> entic subgroup?

Parent material: Kalahari (Barotse) sands of Mid-Tertiary to Early Pleistocene age (Dixey, 1944; Spaargaren, 1987).

Physiography: Terrace-like landscape (see H. Brammer, Geoderma 10, 1973. pp 249-250).

Surface characteristics: Leaf litter discontinuous on the soil surface, mostly concentrated under trees.

Hydrology: Depth groundwater: several meters.

Human influence: The monolith was taken in a dug-out sand pit.

Climate: Data has been copied from Müller (1983). xa: maximum precipitation (mm). xb: minimum precipitation (mm). xc: maximum 24h precipitation (mm). xd: Sunshine (h).

Additional notes on profile description: Ah - also few large roots. E - also few large roots. EB - also few large roots. - wavy humic lamellae. - boundary is locally irregular, with tongues extending into the B2h. Bh1 - dark reddish brown lamellae present. Bh2 - also few large roots - with narrow tongues of bleached sand and humic lamellae extending from B1 horizon. - slightly coherent. - roots decrease to few below 147 cm.

References:

Soils of Zambia. pp 192. - Brammer, H., 1973. Podzols in Zambia. Geoderma vol. 10, pp 249-250.
Müller, M.J. et al, 1983. Handbuch ausgewählter Klimastationen der Erde. - Spaargaren, W.Th, 1987.

WRB 2006:

Umbric Carbic Podzol
74-175 cm	spodic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988:

FAO-UNESCO 1974:

Umbri-

Carbic Podzol

Humic Podzol

0-28 cm	umbric A horizon
74-175 cm	spodic B horizon

0-28 cm	umbric A horizon
74-175 cm	spodic B horizon

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)

Arenic

Alorthod

USDA-SCS (1975)

Arenic

Tropohumod

sandy

siliceous

isohyperthermic

Classification (other)

Kaande sand

Location:

Western Province, 14km E of Mongu on Lusaka-Mongu road, 9km E of signpost Mongu

Physical

Particle size distribution:

Depth (cm)		Gravel (%)	Coarse Sand (%)	Medium Sand (%)	Fine Sand (%)	Very Fine Sand (%)	Total Sand (%)	Coarse Silt (%)	Fine Silt (%)	Total Silt (%)	Clay (%)
0-3	:	-	8.3	70.4	17.3	2.4	98.4	0.1	1.5	1.6	0.0
0-10	:	-	7.6	69.4	18.5	3.3	98.8	0.1	1.0	1.1	0.0
10-28	:	-	7.8	70.2	17.3	3.3	98.6	0.4	1.0	1.4	0.0
28-47	:	-	6.6	67.0	21.0	4.7	99.3	0.1	0.5	0.6	0.0
47-59	:	-	7.0	65.1	22.0	4.7	98.8	1.2	0.0	1.2	0.0
59-74	:	-	6.7	64.3	23.5	4.6	99.1	0.4	0.5	0.9	0.0
74-88	:	-	6.7	62.6	24.4	5.1	98.8	0.4	0.3	0.7	0.5
88-104	:	-	7.4	66.9	21.6	2.7	98.6	0.3	0.3	0.6	0.8
104-120	:	-	6.0	55.4	29.2	6.8	97.4	0.8	0.3	1.1	1.6
120-140	:	-	5.0	58.8	28.9	5.6	98.3	0.4	0.3	0.7	1.1

Other physical data

Depth (cm)		Bulk Density (kg/dm³)	Spec. Surf. Area (m2/g)	COLE (cm/cm)	Water Disp. Clay (%)	Clay (%)
0-3	:	-	-	-	-	0.0
0-10	:	-	-	-	-	0.0
10-28	:	-	-	-	-	0.0
28-47	:	-	-	-	-	0.0
47-59	:	-	-	-	-	0.0
59-74	:	-	-	-	-	0.0
74-88	:	-	-	-	-	0.5
88-104	:	-	-	-	-	0.8
104-120	:	-	-	-	-	1.6
120-140	:	-	-	-	-	1.1

Chemical characteristics:

Depth (cm)		pH H2O	pH KCl	EC 1 : 2.5 (mS/cm)	CaCO3 (%)	Org. C (%)	Org. N (%)	C / N	Exch. Acid (cmol/kg)	Exch. Al (cmol/kg)	Ca (cmol/kg)	Mg (cmol/kg)	K (cmol/kg)	Na (cmol/kg)	Sum Cations (cmol/kg)
0-3	:	4.4	3.5	0.12	-	1.90	0.15	13	0.8	0.3	1.9	0.5	0.1	-	2.5
0-10	:	4.2	3.1	0.07	-	1.67	0.10	17	1.3	0.4	0.2	0.0	0.0	-	0.2
10-28	:	4.3	3.2	0.03	-	0.86	0.05	17	1.5	1.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	-	0.1
28-47	:	4.6	3.7	0.02	-	0.52	0.02	26	1.0	0.6	0.1	0.0	0.0	-	0.1
47-59	:	4.7	3.9	0.02	-	0.37	0.02	19	0.7	0.4	0.1	0.0	0.0	-	0.1
59-74	:	5.0	4.3	0.02	-	0.36	0.01	36	0.6	0.3	0.1	0.0	0.0	-	0.1
74-88	:	5.0	4.4	0.02	-	0.56	0.02	28	0.7	0.4	0.1	0.0	0.0	-	0.1
88-104	:	5.1	4.6	0.01	-	0.51	0.02	26	0.5	0.3	0.1	0.0	0.0	-	0.1
104-120	:	5.3	4.7	0.01	-	0.42	0.02	21	0.4	0.3	0.1	0.0	0.0	-	0.1
120-140	:	5.2	4.7	0.01	-	0.36	0.01	36	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.0	-	0.1

Depth (cm)		CEC Soil (cmol/kg)	CEC Clay (cmol/kg)	CEC Org (cmol/kg)	ECEC (cmol/kg)	Base sat. (%)	Al sat. (%)	ESP (%)
0-3	:	9.0	-	6.7	-	28	-	-
0-10	:	7.0	-	5.8	-	3	-	-
10-28	:	3.2	-	3.0	-	3	-	-
28-47	:	2.8	-	1.8	-	4	-	-
47-59	:	2.0	-	1.3	-	5	-	-
59-74	:	1.0	-	1.3	-	10	-	-
74-88	:	1.6	-	2.0	-	6	-	-
88-104	:	2.2	-	1.8	-	5	-	-
104-120	:	1.0	-	1.5	-	10	-	-
120-140	:	1.8	-	1.3	-	6	-	-

Depth (cm)		pH NaF	P Retention (%)	ODOE	Melanic Index	Fe o (wt%)	Al o (wt%)	Si o (wt%)	Fe d (wt%)	Al d (wt%)	Fe p (wt%)	Al p (wt%)	C p (wt%)
0-3	:	-	-	-	-	0.01	0.02	0	0.01	0.03	0.00	0.06	-
0-10	:	-	-	-	-	0.01	0.02	0	0.01	0.04	0.01	0.07	-
10-28	:	-	-	-	-	0.01	0.04	0	0.01	0.05	0.01	0.10	-
28-47	:	-	-	-	-	0.02	0.02	0	0.01	0.03	0.00	0.08	-
47-59	:	-	-	-	-	0.02	0.03	0	0.01	0.04	0.01	0.09	-
59-74	:	-	-	-	-	0.02	0.04	0	0.03	0.06	0.01	0.10	-
74-88	:	-	-	-	-	0.02	0.10	0	0.02	0.09	0.01	0.15	-
88-104	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
104-120	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
120-140	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Elemental composition of the clay:

Depth (cm)		SiO2 (wt%)	Al2O3 (wt%)	Fe2O3 (wt%)	CaO (wt%)	MgO (wt%)	K2O (wt%)	Na2O (wt%)	TiO2 (wt%)
0-3	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
0-10	:	40.0	17.3	1.8	0.14	0.13	0.20	-	3.31
10-28	:	36.4	26.7	3.2	0.08	0.16	0.19	-	5.08
28-47	:	32.8	29.9	3.8	0.06	0.16	0.16	-	4.55
47-59	:	33.0	30.5	4.6	0.07	0.16	0.16	-	4.46
59-74	:	32.1	33.2	5.4	0.03	0.16	0.16	-	3.67
74-88	:	26.2	33.1	3.9	0.01	0.11	0.18	-	2.89
88-104	:	26.2	33.3	2.9	0.01	0.13	0.13	-	2.68
104-120	:	27.9	33.5	2.3	0.02	0.12	0.33	-	2.39
120-140	:	28.5	33.5	2.4	0.01	0.13	0.14	-	2.61

Depth (cm)		MnO2 (wt%)	P2O5 (wt%)	Ign.Loss clay (wt%)	Total clay (%)	SiO2 / Al2O3 (mol/mol)	SiO2 / Fe2O3 (mol/mol)	SiO2 / R (mol/mol)	Al2O3 / Fe2O3 (mol/mol)
0-3	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
0-10	:	0.03	0.20	35.4	98.51	3.9	59.1	3.7	15.1
10-28	:	0.01	1.48	25.8	99.1	2.3	30.2	2.1	13.1
28-47	:	0.01	1.94	23.1	96.48	1.9	22.9	1.7	12.3
47-59	:	0.01	1.54	21.7	96.2	1.8	19.1	1.7	10.4
59-74	:	0.01	1.41	22.7	98.84	1.6	15.8	1.5	9.6
74-88	:	0.00	0.84	30.9	98.13	1.3	17.9	1.2	13.3
88-104	:	0.01	0.90	29.7	95.96	1.3	24	1.3	18
104-120	:	0.00	0.82	32.4	99.78	1.4	32.2	1.4	22.8
120-140	:	0.00	0.83	30.4	98.52	1.4	31.6	1.4	21.9

Elemental composition of the soil:

Depth (cm)		SiO2 (wt%)	Al2O3 (wt%)	Fe2O3 (wt%)	CaO (wt%)	K2O (wt%)	Na2O (wt%)	TiO2 (wt%)
0-3	:	96.1	0.4	0.0	0.01	0.01	-	0.03
0-10	:	96.8	0.3	0.0	0.00	0.01	-	0.04
10-28	:	98.8	0.3	0.0	0.00	0.00	-	0.04
28-47	:	98.9	0.3	0.0	0.00	0.00	-	0.03
47-59	:	98.5	0.4	0.1	0.00	0.00	-	0.04
59-74	:	99	0.4	0.0	0.00	0.00	-	0.04
74-88	:	98.2	0.5	0.1	0.00	0.00	-	0.04
88-104	:	97.6	0.7	0.1	0.00	0.00	-	0.06
104-120	:	97.9	0.7	0.0	0.00	0.01	-	0.06
120-140	:	90.0	0.7	0.0	0.00	0.01	-	0.07

Depth (cm)		LOI (wt%)	SiO2 / Al2O3 (mol/mol)	SiO2 / Fe2O3 (mol/mol)	SiO2 / R (mol/mol)	Al2O3 / Fe2O3 (mol/mol)
0-3	:	2.3	407.7	-	-	-
0-10	:	2.7	547.5	-	-	-
10-28	:	1.4	558.8	-	-	-
28-47	:	0.7	559.4	-	-	-
47-59	:	0.6	417.8	2617.8	360.3	6.3
59-74	:	0.5	420	-	-	-
74-88	:	0.9	333.2	2609.8	295.5	7.8
88-104	:	1.3	236.6	2593.9	216.8	11
104-120	:	1.0	237.3	-	-	-
120-140	:	8.9	218.2	-	-	-

Clay mineralogy:

Depth (cm)		Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Vermiculite	Chlorite	Smec	Halloysite	Mixed layer	Quar	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Hematite
0-3	:	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-
0-10	:	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	weak to medium	-	-	-
10-28	:	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	-	-	-
28-47	:	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	-	-	-
47-59	:	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	-	-	-
59-74	:	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	-	-	-	-
74-88	:	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	-	-	-
88-104	:	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	-	-	-	-
104-120	:	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	-	-	-
120-140	:	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-

Rare clay minerals:

Depth (cm)		Pyroxene	Amphibole	Calcite	Lepidocrocite	Pyrophyllite	Weddelite	Augite
0-3	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak
0-10	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10-28	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
28-47	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
47-59	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak
59-74	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
74-88	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium
88-104	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak
104-120	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	very weak to weak
120-140	:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Profile description:

Ah 0-28 cm	black (10YR 2/1, moist), Description sand, single grain, loose (dry and moist) non sticky non plastic, many micro to fine continuous interstitial random pores highly porous (>60 vol%), many fine and medium and few coarse roots, non calcareous, clear smooth boundary to,
E 28-59 cm	very dark grey (10YR 3/1, dry), Description sand, single grain, loose non sticky non plastic, many micro to fine continuous interstitial random pores highly porous (>60 vol%), many fine and medium and few coarse roots, non calcareous, abrupt wavy boundary to,
EB 59-74 cm	very dark grey (10YR 3/1, dry), Description sand, single grain, loose non sticky non plastic, many micro to fine continuous interstitial random pores highly porous (>60 vol%), many fine and medium and few coarse roots, non calcareous, clear wavy boundary to,
Bh1 74-104 cm	very dark brown (10YR 2/2, dry), Description sand, weakly coherent massive, loose non sticky non plastic, broken thin humus cutans around sand grains, many micro to fine continuous interstitial random pores highly porous (>60 vol%), many fine and medium roots, non calcareous, abrupt irregular boundary to,
Bh2 104-175 cm	very dark brown (10YR 2/2, dry), Description sand, weakly coherent massive, loose very friable non sticky non plastic, broken thin humus cutans around sand grains, many micro to fine continuous interstitial random pores highly porous (>60 vol%), common fine and few medium and coarse roots, non calcareous, non calcareous, gradual smooth boundary to,
BC 175-200 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4, dry), Description sand, weakly coherent massive, loose very friable non sticky non plastic, broken thin humus cutans around sand grains, many micro to fine continuous interstitial random pores highly porous (>60 vol%), few medium and coarse roots, non calcareous, gradual smooth boundary to,
C 200->200 cm	brown (10YR 5/3, dry), Description sand, weakly coherent massive, loose very friable non sticky non plastic, few (2-5%) faint mottles 10YR5/4 (yellowish brown), many micro to very coarse continuous interstitial random pores highly porous (>60 vol%), few fine and medium roots, non calcareous,

The main parent rock/ material over which the soil has been formed (1st entry)	sediment, unconsolidated
Mode of Accumulation or deposition of parent material (1st entry)	eolian mixed / undifferentiated
Texture of parent material (1st entry)	sandy
Weathering status of solid rock (1st entry)	partially or moderately
Resistance against weathering (solid rock) (1st entry)	high
Depth1 of lithological boundary	cm
The main parent rock/ material over which the soil has been formed (2nd entry)
Resistance against weathering (solid rock) (2nd entry)
Soil Depth; depth to which roots can easily penetrate throughout the year	200 cm
Remarks on Parent Materials	Kalahari sand of mid-Tertiary to Early Pleistocene age

Soil erosion type (1st entry)	wind
Intensity of the soil erosion type (1st entry)	slight
Occurrence of soil aggradation
Slope Stability

Current land use at the site	woodland, grazed
Major crops
Main type of irrigation	no irrigation
Rotation scheme
Vegetation Type;The natural vegetation at the site	woodland
Status of vegetation	primary
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	Vegetation: Undergrowth of sparse grasses and sedges

The altitude of the soil profile relative to mean sea level, specified in meters	1000 m asl
Regional landform	plateau
Topography of the surrounding country	flat or almost flat
Physiographic Unit in the immediate surrounding of the site	near margin of valley
The slope refers to the inclination of the land immediately surrounding the site. The measured or estimated slope angle is specified to the nearest per cent	1 %
The physiographic position of the site where the profile is located	crest
Form of the slope surrounding the site
Slope Aspect of the site

Depth of groundwater table	cm
Groundwater Top	cm
Groundwater Bottom	cm
Kind of groundwater table	no groundwater table observed
Top Stagnating Layer	cm
Bottom Stagnating Layer	cm
Runoff	slow
Flooding frequency	never
Estimated permeablity (class) of least permeable part of the profile	high
Drainage Class	somewhat excessive
To Drainage Class
Moisture conditions of the profile: dry from -to	10-200 cm
Moisture conditions of the profile: moist from -to	0-10 cm
Wet From - To	cm

Microrelief type: small-scale differences in relief in the direct vicinity of the site
Microrelief Height
Rockiness	none
Stoniness	none
Average size of stones
Shape of stones (on average)
Cracks	no cracks observed
Slaking of aggregates by tillage, rainfall or frost	no surface slaking/crusting observed
Evidence of salt	non-saline
Evidence of alkali	non-alkaline

You are here

Reference soil Zambia 01: Podzol