Reference soil United States of America 13: Chernozem

US013

Chernozems are typically found in the long-grass steppe regions of the world, particularly in Eastern Europe and North America (Canada and the USA).

Characteristics

Soils having a very dark mollic horizon (thick, brownish or blackish surface horizon with a significant accumulation of organic matter and high base saturation) and secondary carbonates within 50 cm of the lower limit of the Ah horizon, but within 200 cm from the soil surface. They have no petrocalcic horizon between 25 and 100 cm from the soil surface, no secondary gypsum and no uncoated sand and silt grains on structural pedfaces

Distribution of Chernozems (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil US013: Chernozems

PROFILE DESCRIPTION: Bt1: colours also dark greyish brown (10YR 4/2, dry) and dark brown (10YR 3/3, moist) BC: streaks, light brown (2.5Y 6/2, dry) and dark greyish brown (2.5Y 4/2, moist) and 0.5cm wide, occur discontinuous across the horizon C: streaks as in BC horizon

Classification

WRB 1998

Silti-Luvic- Chernozem

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Silti-Luvic Chernozem

Luvic Chernozem

Local classification:	Holdrege silt loam

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Typic Argiustoll
USDA-SCS (1975)	Typic Argiustoll ustic fine-silty mixed mesic

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
0-19	0	0	0	0.1	0.1	10.4	10.6	46.6	18.1	64.7	24.6
19-33	0	0	0	0.1	0.4	23.5	24	29.7	15.6	45.3	30.7
33-44	0	0	0	0.5	0.2	20.9	21.6	29.9	16.7	46.6	31.9
44-67	0	0	0	0	0.2	23.3	23.5	29.7	21.2	50.9	25.6
67-92	0	0	0	0	0.8	21.6	22.4	34.4	23.3	57.7	19.9
92-142	0	0	0	0	0.3	27.4	27.7	33.2	23.8	57	15.3
142-200	0	0.1	0	0	0.4	15.4	15.9	44.3	22.7	67	17.1

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-19	1.26	-	-	-	24.6
19-33	1.27	-	-	-	30.7
33-44	1.29	-	-	-	31.9
44-67	1.32	-	-	-	25.6
67-92	1.35	-	-	-	19.9
92-142	1.34	-	-	-	15.3
142-200	1.27	-	-	-	17.1

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
0-19	1.26	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13.6
19-33	1.27	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14.9
33-44	1.29	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15.3
44-67	1.32	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12.7
67-92	1.35	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11.7
92-142	1.34	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10.3
142-200	1.27	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10.9

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
0-19	5.9	4.8	0.24	-	2.11	0.20	11	-	-	11.1	3.6	1.8	0.0	16.5
19-33	6.4	5.5	0.12	-	1.27	0.12	11	-	-	14.1	5.6	1.9	0.0	21.6
33-44	6.8	5.7	0.11	1.1	0.97	0.10	10	-	-	15.2	6.3	2.0	0.0	23.5
44-67	7.0	5.8	0.08	1.7	0.37	0.05	7	-	-	14.1	6.1	2.0	0.0	22.2
67-92	7.3	5.9	0.07	0.9	0.24	0.04	6	-	-	13.1	5.9	2.1	0.1	21.2
92-142	7.8	6.5	0.16	1.7	0.11	0.03	4	-	-	18.7	6.1	2.3	0.4	27.5
142-200	8.4	8.0	-	1.0	0.12	-	-	-	-	-	6.5	2.2	1.7	10.4

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 %
0-19	83	20.0	81	7.4	-	-	0
19-33	92	23.5	77	4.4	-	-	0
33-44	102	23.0	72	3.4	-	-	0
44-67	98	22.7	89	1.3	-	-	0
67-92	101	21.0	106	0.8	-	-	0
92-142	107	25.8	169	0.4	-	-	2
142-200	-	20.4	119	0.4	-	-	8

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
0-19	-	-	-	-	-	0.5	0.1	-	-	-	-
19-33	-	-	-	-	-	0.6	0.1	-	-	-	-
33-44	-	-	-	-	-	0.6	0.1	-	-	-	-
44-67	-	-	-	-	-	0.6	0.1	-	-	-	-
67-92	-	-	-	-	-	0.6	0.1	-	-	-	-
92-142	-	-	-	-	-	0.6	0.1	-	-	-	-
142-200	-	-	-	-	-	0.6	0.1	-	-	-	-

Soluble sands

Depth (cm)	Ca mmol(c)/kg	Mg mmol(c)/kg	K mmol(c)/kg	Na mmol(c)/kg	sum cations mmol(c)/kg	CO3 mmol(c)/kg	HCO3 mmol(c)/kg	Cl mmol(c)/kg	NO3 mmol(c)/kg	SO4 mmol(c)/kg	sum anions mmol(c)/kg
92-142	1.4	0.9	0.8	38	41.1	0	3.5	0.5	0	2.2	6.2
142-200	1.5	1.0	0.9	6.4	9.8	0	3.6	3.4	0	2	9

Depth (cm)	Sodium ads. ratio	pH e	EC e dS/m	EC 1 : 5 dS/m
92-142	3.54	8	0.7	-
142-200	5.72	79	1.04	-

Profile description

Ah1 0-19 cm	very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2, dry) very dark brown (10YR 2/2, moist)silt loam,moderate fine subangular blocky and moderate fine granular,slightly hard friable,many roots,non calcareous,clear wavy boundary to,
Ah2 19-33 cm	dark greyish brown (10YR 4/2, dry) very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2, moist)silt loam,moderate medium subangular blocky and moderate medium granular,slightly hard friable,many roots,non calcareous,clear wavy boundary to,
Bt1 33-44 cm	brown (10YR 5/3, dry) (dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)silty clay loam,moderate fine subangular blocky,slightly hard friable,many roots,non calcareous,clear wavy boundary to,
Bt2 44-67 cm	dark greyish brown (10YR 4/2, dry) brown (10YR 5/3, moist)silty clay loam,weak prismatic parting to moderate medium subangular blocky,slightly hard friable,common many roots,non calcareous,gradual wavy boundary to,
Bt3 67-92 cm	yellowish brown (10YR 5/4, dry) (dark) brown (10YR 4/3, moist)silt loam,weak fine prismatic parting to weak medium subangular blocky,slightly hard friable,few fine prominent mottles (7.5YR 5/6),common roots,non calcareous,abrupt wavy boundary to,
92-142 cm	light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4, dry) brown (10YR 5/3, moist)silt loam,weak medium prismatic parting to weak medium subangular blocky,soft,common fine prominent mottles (7.5YR 5/6),few roots,frequent calcareous unspecified inclusions,non calcareous,gradual wavy boundary to,
C 142-200 cm	light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4, dry) brown (10YR 5/3, moist)sandy loam,massive,soft,many fine prominent mottles (7.5YR 5/6),few roots,few calcareous unspecified inclusions,non calcareous,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	calcareous sandstone
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	eolian loess
Remarks on Parent Materials	mixed calcareous mat
Soil Depth	200cm
Texture of parent material (second entry)	loamy
Weathering Resistance	moderate

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	absent
Slope stability	stable

Main type of irrigation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	no irrigation
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	semi-natural grassland, grazed
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	pasture, grasses and forbs
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	grassland

Altitude	600m
Physiographic Unit	backslope sideslope
Physiographic position of the site	slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	plain
Slope	1%
Slope Aspect	east
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
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	high
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
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 United States of America 13: Chernozem

Characteristics

Reference soil US013: Chernozems

Classification