Reference soil Spain 03: Vertisol

ES003

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 ES003: Vertisols

Short field description: Deep imperfectly drained uniform reddish-brown clayey soil; Structure is strong angular blocky showing prominent slickenslides and wedgeshaped aggregates between 25-95 cm.. Deep wide cracks occur during dry season, and continu down to 90 cm, still being some 2 cm wide at 50 cm depth. * undulating landscape. ** observed watertable deeper than 150 cm.

Classification

WRB 2014

Vertisol

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Stagni-Calcic Vertisol inundic

Chromic Vertisol

- cm	ochric A horizon
-	slickensides
-	vertic

- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
-	slickensides
-	vertic

Local classification:	Vertisuelo topomorfo

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Chromic Haploxerert
USDA-SCS (1975)	Chromic Chromoxerert xeric clayey montmorillonitic thermic

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
0-10	-	1.1	2.5	2.6	6.3	8.4	20.9	12.8	13.7	26.5	52.7
10-25	-	1.3	2.8	2.8	6	8.1	21	11.8	14.7	26.5	52.6
25-50	-	1.2	2.4	2.5	6	8.3	20.4	12.2	14.2	26.4	53.1
50-70	-	1.3	2.2	2.1	5.6	8	19.2	13.6	14.9	28.5	52.2
70-90	-	1.3	2.2	2	5.9	8.7	20.1	13.2	15.8	29	50.7
90-110	-	1.4	2.3	2.7	5	5.5	16.9	10.9	18.2	29.1	54
110-130	-	0.4	1.6	1.9	6.6	9.3	19.8	14.4	18.6	33	47.3

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	-	-	-	-	52.7
10-25	-	-	-	-	52.6
25-50	-	-	-	-	53.1
50-70	-	-	-	-	52.2
70-90	-	-	-	-	50.7
90-110	-	-	-	-	54
110-130	-	-	-	-	47.3

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	7.8	6.3	0.28	3.5	0.46	0.06	8	-	-	34.8	8.2	1.0	0.0	44
10-25	8.0	6.2	0.25	3.3	0.38	0.04	10	-	-	34.9	7.7	0.7	0.0	43.3
25-50	8.1	6.4	0.28	3.3	0.32	0.04	8	-	-	33.8	8.6	0.5	0.0	42.9
50-70	8.3	6.9	0.32	5.4	0.26	0.03	9	-	-	31.0	9.1	0.4	0.0	40.5
70-90	8.3	7.0	0.33	7.8	0.23	0.02	12	-	-	27.8	9.2	0.4	0.0	37.4
90-110	8.5	7.1	0.26	28	0.15	0.02	8	-	-	20.1	6.9	0.4	0.0	27.4
110-130	8.5	7.2	0.26	9.7	0.03	0.02	2	-	-	22.3	8.3	0.4	0.0	31

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	99	44.4	84	1.6	-	-	-
10-25	97	44.5	85	1.3	-	-	-
25-50	96	44.5	84	1.1	-	-	-
50-70	106	38.3	73	0.9	-	-	-
70-90	107	34.9	69	0.8	-	-	-
90-110	114	24.1	45	0.5	-	-	-
110-130	115	26.9	57	0.1	-	-	-

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	-	-	-	0.18	0.1	0.99	0.13	0.17	0.18	-	0.17
10-25	-	-	-	0.18	0.1	1.03	0.12	0.17	0.18	-	0.17
25-50	-	-	-	0.17	0.1	0.99	0.12	0.17	0.17	-	0.17
50-70	-	-	-	0.15	0.1	0.92	0.11	0.14	0.15	-	0.14
70-90	-	-	-	0.12	0.1	0.79	0.1	0.11	0.12	-	0.11
90-110	-	-	-	0.07	0.1	0.69	0.05	0.06	0.07	-	0.06
110-130	-	-	-	0.06	0.1	0.7	0.05	0.04	0.06	-	0.04

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
0-10	11.9	1.3	4.5	1.30	1.7	-	70.6	0.9
10-25	12.3	1.4	4.8	1.30	1.8	-	72.2	0.9
25-50	12.1	1.3	4.6	1.30	2.2	-	72.3	0.9
50-70	11.9	4	4.6	1.30	2	-	68.0	0.9
70-90	11.7	5.4	4.5	1.30	1.8	-	67.5	0.9
90-110	9.5	17.7	3	1.10	2.2	-	49.6	0.5
110-130	11.4	6.3	4.4	1.50	2.2	-	66.3	0.9

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
0-10	4.1	5.6	0.10	0.00	10.1	41.8	8.1
10-25	4.0	5.9	0.10	0.00	10	40	8.0
25-50	4.1	6.1	0.10	0.00	10.1	41.8	8.2
50-70	4.1	7.6	0.10	0.10	9.7	39.4	7.8
70-90	4.1	8.0	0.10	0.10	9.8	39.9	7.9
90-110	5.0	17.5	0	0.20	8.9	44.0	7.4
110-130	4.1	8.4	0.10	0.10	9.9	40.1	7.9

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-10	-	-	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	-	weak to medium	very strong	-
10-25	-	-	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	-	weak to medium	very strong	-
25-50	-	-	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	very weak to weak	weak to medium	very strong	-
50-70	-	-	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	very weak to weak	weak to medium	very strong	-
70-90	-	-	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	very weak to weak	weak to medium	very strong	-
90-110	-	-	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	-	weak to medium	very strong	-
110-130	-	-	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	-	weak to medium	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
0-10	0.3	2	99.7	39	3	95
25-50	0.5	5	99.5	34	4	91
70-90	0.3	4	99.7	48	3	93
110-130	0.2	3	99.8	42	6	91

Minerals

Depth (cm)	Anatase % w/w	Andalusite % w/w	Apatite % w/w	Augite % w/w	Biotite % w/w	Hornblende (basaltic) % w/w
0-10	1	11	-	-	-	2
25-50	1	6	-	-	-	2
70-90	1	6	-	-	-	1
110-130	-	9	-	-	-	1

Depth (cm)	Brookite % w/w	Chloritic % w/w	Disthene % w/w	Epidote % w/w	Garnet % w/w	Glaucophane % w/w
0-10	4	-	-	20	-	-
25-50	3	-	-	31	-	-
70-90	5	-	-	24	-	-
110-130	5	-	-	26	-	-

Depth (cm)	Grenate % w/w	Grossular % w/w	Muscovite % w/w	Rutile % w/w	Sillimanite % w/w	Spinel % w/w
0-10	-	-	-	36	-	-
25-50	-	-	-	28	-	-
70-90	-	-	-	28	-	-
110-130	-	-	-	30	-	-

Profile description

Ap 0-10 cm	(10YR 3.5/5, dry) dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/6, moist)clay,strong very fine subangular blocky and strong fine subangular blocky,hard very friable very sticky very plastic,very few calcareous unspecified inclusions,clear smooth boundary to,
Bi1 10-25 cm	(10YR 3.5/5, dry) dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/6, moist)clay,moderate very fine platy parting to strong very fine angular blocky,very friable sticky very plastic,patchy slickensides cutans,very few calcareous unspecified inclusions,gradual smooth boundary to,
Bi2 25-40 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/6, moist)clay,moderate coarse angular blocky parting to strong very fine angular blocky,hard very friable sticky very plastic,patchy slickensides cutans,very few calcareous unspecified inclusions,gradual smooth boundary to,
40-80 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/6, moist)clay slightly gravelly,strong coarse angular blocky parting to strong very fine angular blocky,hard very friable sticky very plastic,broken thick slickensides in cracks cutans,few calcareous unspecified inclusions,gradual wavy boundary to,
Ckib 80-95 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/6, moist)clay,moderate coarse angular blocky parting to strong very fine angular blocky,hard very friable sticky plastic,common medium prominent clear mottles (2.5YR 6/3) and few medium prominent mottles (2.5YR 3/6),broken thick slickensides cutans,few calcareous unspecified inclusions,clear wavy boundary to,
95-120 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/6, moist)clay slightly gravelly,strong coarse angular blocky parting to strong fine angular blocky,hard very friable sticky plastic,many medium distinct sharp mottles (2.5YR 6/3) and many medium distinct mottles (2.5YR 3/6),few calcareous unspecified inclusions,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	mixed lithology
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	unconsolidated, unspecified
Remarks on Parent Materials	calc. Miocene clay
Soil Depth	120cm
Texture of parent material (second entry)	clayey

Major crops	olive
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	mixed farming
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	plowlayer of 10 cm thickness
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	woodland

Altitude	318m
Physiographic Unit	depression in slightly
Physiographic position of the site	depression
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	basin
Slope	0%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	moderately well
Dry From - To	0-25cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	25-120cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	moderate
Estimated run off (class)	slow

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Microrelief pattern	none
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 Spain 03: Vertisol

Characteristics

Reference soil ES003: Vertisols

Classification