Reference soil France 04: Vertisol

FR004

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 FR004: Vertisols

CRUSTING: crusty surface, top 2 cm highly organic. TEXTURE: Clay is heavy throughout. BRIEF CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SOIL: A thin clayey profile, dark-coloured with organic matter to a depth of 35 cm and with streaks of dark-coloured organic matter on ped surfaces down to a depth of 70 cm. Fragments of limestone and free lime removed to a depth of 25 cm. The clay is calcareous below 45 cm. Cracks reach down to 55 cm. ADDITIONAL NOTES ON PROFILE DESCRIPTION: AC - also very dark grey (10YR3/1). - with horizontal layer of fragmented limestone, 1 cm thick. C1 - vertical structural planes evident, slickensides. C3 - with dusky red (2.5YR3/2) streaks. - crystalline lime crust (secondary lime) of 1 cm thickness at 115 cm. - with depth changing into weathered limestone.

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Mollic- Vertisol (Calcaric Humic Mesotrophic)

Mesotrophic- Vertisol

25-50 cm	vertic horizon
-	calcaric

0-25 cm	mollic horizon
25-50 cm	vertic horizon
-	calcaric

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Molli-Calcic Vertisol

Chromic Vertisol

0-25 cm	mollic A horizon
25-50 cm	cambic B horizon
-	slickensides
-	vertic

0-25 cm	mollic A horizon
25-50 cm	cambic B horizon
-	slickensides
-	vertic

Local classification:	Sol brun vertique

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Pelludert

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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	-	-	-	-	-	-	4.5	10.5	29.8	40.3	55.2
10-28	-	-	-	-	-	-	4.5	9.4	25.6	35.0	60.5
28-46	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	9.6	31.5	41.1	57.9
46-85	-	-	-	-	-	-	1.5	9.9	42.2	52.1	46.4
87-103	-	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.3	2.2	2.7	7.7	35.7	43.4	53.8

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	-	-	-	-	55.2
10-28	-	-	-	-	60.5
28-46	-	-	-	-	57.9
46-85	-	-	-	-	46.4
87-103	-	-	-	-	53.8

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	5.2	4.2	-	0.0	5.19	0.49	11	1.7	0.9	12.6	2.1	1.0	0.1	15.8
10-28	5.9	4.6	-	0.0	1.85	0.18	10	2.6	1.8	21.2	7.1	0.9	0.1	29.3
28-46	7.1	6.6	-	9.6	0.71	0.08	9	-	-	29.7	4.2	0.9	0.1	34.9
46-85	8.0	6.9	-	17.8	0.29	0.04	7	-	-	24.1	2.3	0.6	0.1	27.1
87-103	7.9	6.7	-	-	0.25	0.05	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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	38	41.9	76	18.2	-	2	0
10-28	79	37.1	61	6.5	-	5	0
28-46	91	38.2	66	2.5	-	-	0
46-85	93	29.2	63	1.0	-	-	0
87-103	-	-	-	0.9	-	-	-

Depth (cm)	CaSO4.2H2O %	P Bray mg/kg	P Olsen mg/kg	pH CaCl2	clay_noncarbonate % w/w	clay_carbonate % w/w	phosphorus4 mg/kg	phosphorus1 mg/kg	total_sulfur % w/w
0-10	0.00	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10-28	0.00	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
28-46	0.00	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
46-85	0.00	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
87-103	0.00	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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
0-10	48.0	20.6	8.0	0.10	8.60	5.00	-	1.00
10-28	49.6	20.5	7.9	0.10	8.80	4.90	-	0.90
28-46	49.9	20.2	7.9	0.10	9.50	4.80	-	0.70
46-85	49.2	20.0	8.0	0.10	9.80	4.90	-	0.70
87-103	48.4	19.3	9.2	0.20	10.70	4.50	-	0.60

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
0-10	0.10	0.20	7.3	98.9	4.0	16.0	3.2	4.0
10-28	0.10	0.20	7.5	100.5	4.1	16.7	3.3	4.1
28-46	0.10	0.20	7.2	100.6	4.2	16.6	3.3	4.0
46-85	0.00	0.20	7.4	100.3	4.2	16.4	3.3	3.9
87-103	0.00	0.20	7.8	100.9	4.3	13.9	3.3	3.3

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	14.0	0.62	5.6	4.13	4.47	-	53.9	0.92
10-28	16.6	0.76	6.7	4.59	5.99	-	55.8	0.90
28-46	16.4	6.08	6.6	4.32	6.90	-	47.5	0.69
46-85	14.8	10.38	5.6	3.91	6.65	-	44.7	0.64
87-103	17.2	4.37	8.3	4.47	8.16	-	45.6	0.73

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	3.9	15.5	0.09	0.16	6.5	25.6	5.2
10-28	3.9	9.3	0.14	0.11	5.7	22.2	4.5
28-46	3.9	11.3	0.07	0.12	4.9	19.2	3.9
46-85	4.1	13.7	0.05	0.13	5.1	21.3	4.1
87-103	3.3	10.2	0.05	0.12	4.5	14.6	3.4

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-10	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	strong	-	-	-	strong
10-28	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	strong	-	-	-	strong
28-46	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	strong	-	-	-	strong
46-85	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	medium to strong	-	-	medium to strong	medium to strong
87-103	-	-	-	-	-	-	weak	-	-	weak	strong	medium to strong

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
0-10	0.60	0.4	0.1	0.1	-	-	0.3	0.00	-	0.3	-
10-28	0.40	0.2	0.0	0.0	-	-	0.3	0.00	-	0.4	-
28-46	1.00	0.2	0.0	0.0	-	-	1.0	0.00	-	0.2	-
46-85	5.10	0.8	0.1	6.7	-	-	0.7	13.30	-	0.1	-
87-103	2.60	0.4	0.1	0.1	-	-	0.8	3.30	-	0.1	-

Depth (cm)	Sodium ads. ratio	pH e	EC e dS/m	EC 1 : 5 dS/m
0-10	0	-	-	0.20
10-28	0	-	-	0.14
28-46	0	-	-	0.07
46-85	0	-	-	3.04
87-103	0	-	-	0.82

Profile description

Ah1 0-6 cm	very dark grey (10YR 3/1, dry)clay,strong medium angular blocky,hard plastic,humus on pedfaces cutans,gradual boundary to,
Ah2 6-25 cm	very dark greyish brown (2.5Y 3/2, dry)clay,strong coarse prismatic parting to moderate medium angular blocky,abrupt irregular boundary to,
25-34 cm	olive grey (5Y 4/2, dry)clay,coarse prismatic,clear wavy boundary to,
Bi 44-50 cm	olive (5Y 5/3, dry)clay,humus on pedfaces cutans,limestone fragments,gradual boundary to,
50-90 cm	dark grey (5Y 4/1, dry)clay,moderate medium angular blocky,hard sticky plastic,(5Y 4/3),frequent weathered limestone fragments,
Ck 90- cm	dark grey (5Y 4/1, dry)(5Y 4/3),

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	limestone
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	Muschelkalk calcaire
Texture of parent material	clayey
Weathering Resistance	poor
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	partially or moderately

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	natural forest and woodland
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: Carpinus and Quercus; herbaceous ground cover with mosses
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	deciduous forest

Altitude	350m
Physiographic Unit	uneven surface
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.	plateau
Slope	3%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	imperfect
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	0-100cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	slow
Estimated run off (class)	slow

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Surface cracking	large cracks (width more than 1 cm, or depth more than 50 cm)
Slaking of aggregates by tillage, rainfall or frost (USDA/SCS, 1979)	surface capped, crust on drying
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 France 04: Vertisol

Characteristics

Reference soil FR004: Vertisols

Classification