Reference soil Zambia 04: Ferralsol

ZM004

Ferralsols occur in tropical and subtropical regions of the world, mainly on old and stable land surfaces.

Characteristics

Soils having a ferralic horizon (strongly weathered horizon with low-activity clays and very low amounts of weatherable minerals) between 25 and 200 cm from the soil surface. They lack a nitic horizon (a horizon with strongly developed, nut-shaped structure) and do not have a layer which fulfils the requirements of an argic horizon and which has, in the upper 30 cm, 10 percent or more water-dispersible clay.

Distribution of Ferralsols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil ZM004: Ferralsols

REFERENCES: Van Sleen L.A., 1978. Detailed soil survey of the Uningi seed potato area (and two soils studied in Kleynhans' farm), Northern Province. Soil Survey Report no. 60, Soil Survey Unit, Kasama. (profile K-1, p. 27-28, and Appendix 4, Brief petrographic description of rock sample K-1). PARENT MATERIAL: brief petrographic description of rock sample K-1: Dolerite. A typical fine grained ophitic texture of augite and labradorite plagioclase - with scattered skeletal opaques. The two major minerals show retrogression in patches to amphibole and kaolinite. (Source: Laboratory report, Geological Survey Department of Zambia. 29 October 1976, by J. Tether, mineralogist).

Classification

WRB 2006

Vetic- Ferralsol (Hyperdystric Clayic Rhodic)

12-150 cm

ferralic horizon

12-150 cm

ferralic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Veti-Ferralic Cambisol

Orthic Ferralsol

0-12 cm	ochric A horizon
12-150 cm	cambic B horizon
-	ferralic

0-12 cm	ochric A horizon
12-150 cm	oxic B horizon

Local classification:	Malashi clay

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Inceptic Haplustox
USDA-SCS (1975)	Inceptic Haplustox ustic very fine kaolinitic isothermic

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
0-6	-	1.2	2.9	5.7	12.6	7.6	30	9.3	9.3	18.6	51.4
6-12	-	1.2	2.3	5.1	11.9	7.1	27.6	4.8	7.4	12.2	60.2
12-30	-	1.2	2.6	4.8	10.9	6.8	26.3	6.9	7.1	14	59.7
30-54	-	1.2	2.6	4.4	9.7	5.9	23.8	5.6	7.6	13.2	62.8
54-80	-	1.1	2.5	4.7	11.3	6.2	25.8	7.8	7.8	15.6	58.6
80-110	-	1.4	2.4	4.8	10.3	6.1	25	8.0	5.7	13.7	61.3
110-150	-	1.1	2.2	4.5	10.1	6.2	24.1	7.1	9.0	16.1	59.7
150-	-	7.0	11.0	12.0	20.0	11.0	61	10.0	8.0	18	22.0

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
5-10	1.20	-	-	-	-
0-6	-	79	-	26.6	51.4
20-25	1.17	-	-	-	-
6-12	-	80	-	32.5	60.2
60-65	1.03	-	-	-	-
12-30	-	76	-	7.5	59.7
145-150	1.10	-	-	-	-
30-54	-	78	-	0.5	62.8
54-80	-	74	-	0.5	58.6
80-110	-	72	-	0.0	61.3
110-150	-	75	-	1.0	59.7
150-	-	-	-	14.0	22.0

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
5-10	1.20	51	50	44	36	32	29	19	18
20-25	1.17	54	54	47	35	31	27	19	17
60-65	1.03	55	53	45	32	29	24	18	16
145-150	1.10	52	49	42	33	30	27	19	18

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
0-6	5.5	4.4	0.06	-	2.10	0.12	18	0.7	0.5	1.8	0.8	0.3	0	2.9
6-12	5.9	4.6	0.05	-	1.34	0.08	17	0.3	0.2	1.2	1.1	0.3	0	2.6
12-30	6.3	5.0	0.04	-	0.71	0.03	24	0.1	0.0	1.0	0.9	0.2	0	2.1
30-54	5.7	5.3	0.04	-	0.47	0.04	12	0.1	0.0	0.6	1.0	0.2	0	1.8
54-80	5.8	5.5	0.04	-	0.33	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.9	0.2	0	1.7
80-110	6.0	5.6	0.05	-	0.27	-	-	0.1	0.0	0.1	1.0	0.3	0	1.4
110-150	5.5	5.2	0.06	-	0.35	-	-	0.1	0.1	1.6	0.8	0.2	0	2.6

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 %
0-6	20	14.8	29	7.4	-	3	0
6-12	19	13.5	22	4.6	-	1	0
12-30	19	11.1	19	2.5	-	0	0
30-54	19	9.5	15	1.8	-	0	0
54-80	18	9.4	16	1.1	-	0	0
80-110	15	9.5	15	1.1	-	0	0
110-150	26	10.0	17	1.4	-	1	0

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
0-6	-	-	-	0.27	0	5.17	0.53	0.21	0.15	-	0.31
6-12	-	-	-	0.29	0	5.15	0.53	0.13	0.10	-	0.29
12-30	-	-	-	0.27	0	5.40	0.54	0.05	0.07	-	0.22
30-54	-	-	-	0.23	0	5.44	0.52	0.02	0.04	-	0.22
54-80	-	-	-	0.20	0	5.22	0.46	0.02	0.04	-	0.22
80-110	-	-	-	0.20	0	5.39	0.52	0.02	0.03	-	0.21
110-150	-	-	-	0.21	0	5.34	0.53	0.02	0.05	-	0.21

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
0-6	32.6	33.5	15.3	0.04	0.12	0.17	-	1.65
6-12	34.2	35.1	15.3	0.02	0.12	0.16	-	1.61
12-30	32.8	33.9	15.4	0.02	0.12	0.15	-	1.61
30-54	36.2	35.9	15.1	0.00	0.11	0.14	-	1.57
54-80	32.9	34.7	15.5	0.01	0.13	0.14	-	1.62
80-110	32.8	34.7	15.7	0.00	0.11	0.14	-	1.62
110-150	32.7	34.3	15.7	0.00	0.13	0.14	-	1.65

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
0-6	0.10	0.17	14.8	98.45	1.7	5.7	1.3	3.4
6-12	0.09	0.16	14.9	101.66	1.7	5.9	1.3	3.6
12-30	0.10	0.15	14.7	98.95	1.6	5.7	1.3	3.4
30-54	0.07	0.13	14.8	104.02	1.7	6.4	1.3	3.7
54-80	0.07	0.13	15.0	100.2	1.6	5.6	1.3	3.5
80-110	0.06	0.10	14.7	99.93	1.6	5.6	1.2	3.5
110-150	0.07	0.11	14.8	99.6	1.6	5.5	1.3	3.4

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
0-6	19.6	0.08	15.1	0.18	0.10	-	49.7	4.53
6-12	20.8	0.07	15.3	0.16	0.10	-	47.2	4.32
12-30	22.4	0.05	16.0	0.15	0.13	-	48.5	4.27
30-54	23.3	0.04	15.9	0.14	0.10	-	46.3	4.04
54-80	21.9	0.02	15.8	0.05	0.09	-	47.9	4.29
80-110	23.0	0.01	15.8	0.05	0.09	-	47.0	4.19
150-	4.1	0.05	1.0	0.00	0.06	-	91.0	0.32

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
0-6	2	11.4	0.18	0.09	4.3	8.7	2.9
6-12	2.1	11.0	0.17	0.07	3.9	8.2	2.6
12-30	2.2	10.5	0.17	0.07	3.7	8.1	2.5
30-54	2.3	10.5	0.15	0.06	3.4	7.7	2.3
54-80	2.2	9.6	0.15	0.05	3.7	8.1	2.5
80-110	2.3	10.0	0.14	0.04	3.5	7.9	2.4
150-	6.4	4.2	0.02	0.03	37.7	241.8	32.6

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-6	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	-	very strong	-	-	-	-	-
6-12	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	-	very strong	-	-	-	-	-
12-30	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	-	very strong	-	-	-	-	-
30-54	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	-	very strong	-	-	-	-	-
54-80	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	-	very strong	-	-	-	-	-
80-110	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	very weak to weak	very strong	-	-	-	-	-
110-150	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	very weak to weak	very strong	-	-	-	-	-

Sand mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Heavy Frac. sand % w/w	K-Feldspar % w/w	Light Fra. sand % w/w	Opaque % w/w	Plagioclase % w/w	Quartz % w/w
80-110	17.6	-	82.4	100	-	100

Profile description

Ap 0-12 cm	reddish brown (5YR 4/4, dry)clay,weak coarse subangular blocky,very hard firm slightly sticky non plastic,common medium pores,few fine and few coarse roots,non calcareous,abrupt smooth boundary to,
BA 12-30 cm	(5YR 4/8, moist)clay,moderate medium subangular blocky,slightly hard firm sticky plastic,many very fine pores,common fine and few coarse roots,non calcareous,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bt1 30-54 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, moist)clay,moderate medium and coarse subangular blocky,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,many very fine and fine pores,common fine and few coarse roots,non calcareous,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bt2 54-80 cm	dark red (2.5YR 3/6, moist)clay,moderate fine and medium subangular blocky,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,many very fine pores and common fine pores,few fine roots,non calcareous,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bt3 80-110 cm	red (2.5YR 4/6, moist)clay,moderate medium subangular blocky,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,patchy thin clay and sesquioxide cutans,common very fine and fine pores,few fine roots,non calcareous,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bt4 110-150 cm	red (2.5YR 4/6, moist)clay,moderate medium subangular blocky,slightly hard friable sticky plastic,patchy thin clay and sesquioxide cutans,common very fine to medium pores,few fine roots,very few fine gravel weathered dolerite fragments,non calcareous,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	fine-grained basic igneous rock
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	dolerite of the Kibaran System
Soil Depth	150cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
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 use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	fallow
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: Formerly wheat/potatoes trials

Altitude	1700m
Physiographic Unit	valley floor
Physiographic position of the site	flat
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	plateau
Slope	1%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Dry From - To	0-12cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	12-150cm
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
Surface cracking	no cracks observed
Slaking of aggregates by tillage, rainfall or frost (USDA/SCS, 1979)	no surface slaking/crusting observed
Microrelief pattern	none
Rock outcrop class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	little rocky
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 Zambia 04: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil ZM004: Ferralsols

Classification