Reference soil Brazil 14: Ferralsol

BR014

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 BR014: Ferralsols

Brief field description: Very deep, well drained, dusky red clay; weakly coherent porous massive subsoil. Infillings from deeper substrata are common in Bw1, caused by biological activity. Colour of the infillings 1.25 YR 4/6 to 8. Consistency Ah1, Ah2, AB is soft to slightly hard. The AB horizon from 20-38 cm shows relatively a much lower porosity than over- and underlying horizons. Physiography:*= very broad open V-valley. Soil aggradation: in nearby soil pit presence of thin layers of coarser fragments (sometimes lateritic) shows the colluvial processes. Photographs/slides no 9795-9798 *) Brazilian classification: Latossolo Vermelho-Escuro Distrofico.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Vetic- Ferralsol (Humic Alumic Clayic)

Veti-Humic- Ferralsol (Alumic Rhodic)

20-470 cm

ferralic horizon

0-38 cm	ochric horizon
20-470 cm	ferralic horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Alumi-Rhodic Ferralsol

Rhodic Ferralsol cerrado

0-38 cm	ochric A horizon
20-470 cm	ferralic B horizon
- cm	ferralic B horizon

0-38 cm	ochric A horizon
20-470 cm	oxic B horizon

Local classification:	Latossolo Vermelho-Escuro álico

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Humic Haplustox
USDA-SCS (1975)	Humic Haplustox ustic clayey isohyperthermic

More images

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
0-9	12	1.1	1.6	8.3	19.1	5.6	35.7	9.5	12.5	22.0	42.3
9-20	0	0.7	1.0	6.9	16.6	5.4	30.6	9.6	14.9	24.5	44.8
20-38	0	0.4	1.0	7.7	18.5	5.3	32.9	9.0	12.3	21.3	45.7
38-80	0	0.3	0.9	8.4	20.9	5.7	36.2	7.8	8.3	16.1	47.8
80-147	0	0.5	0.8	8.3	20.9	5.5	36.0	8.9	9.3	18.2	45.9
147-170	0	0.3	0.8	8.3	22.1	5.6	37.1	7.9	10.1	18.0	45.0
170-270	0	0.3	0.9	8.7	22.4	5.5	37.8	8.2	10.1	18.3	43.9
270-370	0	0.4	0.9	7.3	20.2	5.9	34.7	6.4	11.0	17.4	47.8
370-470	0	0.6	0.9	6.2	20.0	5.7	33.4	8.2	12.0	20.2	46.3

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	1.110	-	-	-	-
0-9	-	-	-	12.8	42.3
60-65	0.936	-	-	-	-
9-20	-	-	-	21.1	44.8
120-125	0.944	-	-	-	-
20-38	-	-	-	21.7	45.7
38-80	-	-	-	18.7	47.8
80-147	-	-	-	17.3	45.9
147-170	-	-	-	16.0	45.0
170-270	-	-	-	1.0	43.9
270-370	-	-	-	2.9	47.8
370-470	-	-	-	2.0	46.3

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	1.110	54.9	51.3	41.7	33.1	29.7	26.8	19.7	18.5
60-65	0.936	57.3	55.2	39.5	28.5	24.7	23.1	17.6	16.9
120-125	0.944	56.3	56.4	41.6	30.6	27.1	24.3	17.7	17.1

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
0-9	4.0	4.0	0.30	-	2.58	0.14	18	0.9	1.0	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.4
9-20	4.3	4.1	0.11	-	1.90	0.11	17	1.4	1.5	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.1
20-38	4.5	4.0	0.05	-	1.47	0.09	16	1.4	1.5	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.2
38-80	4.6	4.1	0.03	-	1.36	0.07	19	1.3	1.4	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.3
80-147	4.7	4.1	0.03	-	1.21	0.06	20	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
147-170	4.8	4.2	0.03	-	0.79	0.04	20	0.4	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
170-270	5.1	4.5	0.01	-	0.45	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
270-370	5.2	5.0	0.02	-	0.30	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
370-470	4.9	4.7	0.01	-	0.25	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1

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 %
0-9	5	7.3	17	9.0	-	14	0
9-20	1	6.7	15	6.7	-	22	0
20-38	3	6.2	14	5.1	-	24	0
38-80	5	6.0	13	4.8	-	23	2
80-147	0	6.2	14	4.2	-	16	0
147-170	0	3.3	7	2.8	-	15	0
170-270	0	1.9	4	1.6	-	-	0
270-370	0	1.8	4	1.1	-	-	0
370-470	5	2.0	4	0.9	-	-	5

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
0-9	-	34	-	0.30	0.00	4.10	0.80	-	-	-	0.20
9-20	-	35	-	0.30	0.00	3.80	0.80	-	-	-	0.20
20-38	-	35	-	0.30	0.00	4.10	0.80	-	-	-	0.20
38-80	-	36	-	0.30	0.10	4.20	0.70	-	-	-	0.20
80-147	-	37	-	0.30	0.10	4.30	0.70	-	-	-	0.20
147-170	-	-	-	0.20	0.00	4.60	0.70	-	-	-	0.10
170-270	-	-	-	0.20	0.10	4.30	0.80	-	-	-	0.10
270-370	-	-	-	0.10	0.10	4.60	0.70	-	-	-	0.10
370-470	-	35	-	0.10	0.10	5.00	0.50	-	-	-	0.10

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-9	-	weak	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	very strong	-	medium to strong	-	-	weak
9-20	-	weak	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	very strong	-	medium to strong	-	-	weak
20-38	-	weak	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	very strong	-	medium to strong	-	-	weak
38-80	-	weak	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	very strong	-	medium to strong	-	-	very weak
80-147	-	weak	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	very strong	-	medium to strong	-	-	-
147-170	-	weak	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	very strong	-	medium to strong	-	-	-
170-270	-	weak	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	very strong	-	medium to strong	-	-	-
270-370	-	weak	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	very strong	-	medium to strong	-	-	-
370-470	-	weak	medium to strong	medium to strong	-	-	very strong	-	medium to strong	-	-	-

Profile description

Ah1 0-9 cm	(5YR 2.5/4, moist)clay,weak fine and medium subangular blocky,soft friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,very few medium spherical hard ferruginous concretions,clear smooth boundary to,
Ah2 9-20 cm	dark reddish brown (2.5YR 2.5/4, moist)clay,weak fine and medium subangular blocky,soft friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine fine pores,clear smooth boundary to,
20-38 cm	red (2.5YR 5/6, moist)clay,weak fine subangular blocky and weak very fine granular,soft friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine inped tubular random pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
BA 38-80 cm	(2.5YR 3.5/6, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine inped tubular random pores,very few medium spherical hard ferruginous concretions,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Bw1 80-147 cm	(10R 3.5/6, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine inped tubular random pores,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bw2 147-170 cm	(10R 3.5/6, moist)clay,weakly coherent porous massive,soft friable slightly sticky slightly plastic,many very fine inped tubular random pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
Auger 170-250 cm	red (10R 4/6, moist)clay,diffuse boundary to,
Auger 250-350 cm	red (2.5YR 4/8, moist)clay,diffuse boundary to,
Auger 350-470 cm	red (10R 4/8, moist)clay,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	highly weathered material
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	slope wash
Soil Depth	500cm
Texture of parent material	clayey
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	highly

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	present
Intensity of the soil erosion type	slight
Soil erosion type	sheet
Slope stability	stable

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	(semi-)natural vegetation
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: LANDUSE: Experimental station
Status of vegetation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	primary
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	deciduous woodland

Altitude	1010m
Physiographic Unit	very broad open V-valley I dissected plateau
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.	plateau
Slope	4%
Form of the slope surrounding the site	concave
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	0-500cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	high
Estimated run off (class)	rapid

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
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 Brazil 14: Ferralsol

Characteristics

Reference soil BR014: Ferralsols

Classification