Reference soil Ireland 09: Podzol

IE009

Podzols mainly occur in cool temperate and moist regions on coarse textured materials. Areas of Podzols have also been recorded from wet, tropical regions, notably the Amazon basin, southern central Africa and southeast Asia.

Characteristics

Soils having a spodic horizon (a dark coloured subsurface horizon with illuvial amorphous alumino-organic substances) within 200 cm from the soil surface, underlying an albic, histic, umbric or ochric horizon, or an anthropedogenic horizon less than 50 cm thick. Podzols are probably the most extensively researched group of soils.

Distribution of Podzols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil IE009: Podzols

UNDERLYING ROCK: Schists and quartzites.

Classification

WRB 1998

Placic- Podzol

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Placi-Haplic Podzol

Placic Podzol

- cm	albic E horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
- cm	spodic B horizon

- cm	albic E horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
- cm	spodic B horizon
-	thin iron pan

Local classification:	Peaty iron-pan podzol

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Typic Placorthod
USDA-SCS (1975)	Typic Placohumod udic sandy mixed mesic

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
0-7	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7-40	0	17.1	16	16.8	20.9	11	81.8	11	6.2	17.2	1
40-49	35	7.3	11.4	17.9	25.5	13	75.1	13.5	7.3	20.8	4
49-62	32	16.1	15.5	16.5	18.9	10.3	77.3	13	7.7	20.7	2
62-87	30	13.2	13.5	16.2	23.4	13.5	79.8	12.6	5.4	18	2.2

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
7-40	-	-	-	-	1
40-49	-	-	-	-	4
49-62	-	-	-	-	2
62-87	-	-	-	-	2.2

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
0-7	3.8	2.8	-	-	24.0	0.83	29	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7-40	4.6	3.9	-	-	0.62	0.04	16	-	-	0.0	0.1	0	0.0	0.1
40-49	4.4	3.8	-	-	1.37	0.05	27	-	-	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.2
49-62	4.5	4.2	-	-	0.25	0.02	13	-	-	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.2
62-87	5.0	4.6	-	-	0.15	0.32	0	-	-	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.2

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 %
7-40	6	1.7	170	-	-	-	-
40-49	5	4.3	108	-	-	-	-
49-62	22	0.9	45	-	-	-	-
62-87	22	0.9	41	-	-	-	-

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
0-7	-	-	-	0.02	-	0.03	0.02	0.01	0.02	-	0.02
7-40	-	-	-	0.07	-	0.08	0.08	0.05	0.1	-	0.04
40-49	-	-	-	0.06	-	1.46	0.11	0.11	0.04	-	0.39
49-62	-	-	-	0.06	-	0.83	0.05	0.02	0.04	-	0.19

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
7-40	51.6	25.3	4.3	0.06	1.65	6.37	0.17	2.12
40-49	47.8	25.4	4.9	0.01	2.09	5.46	0.28	1.82
49-62	35.9	18.7	26.3	0.04	1.69	3.82	0.28	1.2
62-87	42.8	21.5	16.5	0.05	2.32	4.71	0.36	0.8

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
7-40	0	0.27	8.3	100.2	3.5	31.9	3.1	9.2
40-49	0	0.29	10.4	98.4	3.2	25.8	2.8	8.1
49-62	0.17	0.82	10.3	99.2	3.3	3.6	1.7	1.1
62-87	0.32	0.74	9.5	99.5	3.4	6.9	2.3	2

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
0-7	3.6	0.11	0.9	1.06	0.31	0.57	53.9	0.19
7-40	7.4	0.03	0.7	2.01	0.41	1.17	85.8	0.35
40-49	7.7	0.03	0.9	2.05	0.62	0.85	84.2	0.47
49-62	7.3	0.06	4.8	2.02	0.52	0.86	80.3	0.53
62-87	7.6	0.08	3.7	2.14	1.07	0.79	83.7	0.45

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
0-7	6.3	40.0	0	0.05	25.4	159	21.9
7-40	16.6	1.6	0	0.00	19.7	326	18.6
40-49	13.4	3.1	0	0.00	18.6	249	17.3
49-62	2.4	2.0	0.02	0.07	18.7	44.5	13.2
62-87	3.2	1.7	0.05	0.08	18.7	60.2	14.3

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
7-40	-	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	strong	strong	strong	-
40-49	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	strong	strong	strong	-
49-62	strong	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	-
62-87	strong	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	weak to medium	weak to medium	-	-

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
7-40	1.3	7	98.7	11	12	81
40-49	1.3	6	98.7	19	10	84
49-62	4.2	6	95.8	42	7	87
62-87	3.9	8	96.1	23	10	82

Minerals

Depth (cm)	Anatase % w/w	Andalusite % w/w	Apatite % w/w	Augite % w/w	Biotite % w/w	Hornblende (basaltic) % w/w
7-40	3	-	-	-	-	-
40-49	4	-	-	-	-	-
49-62	7	-	-	-	-	-
62-87	4	-	-	-	-	-

Depth (cm)	Brookite % w/w	Chloritic % w/w	Disthene % w/w	Epidote % w/w	Garnet % w/w	Glaucophane % w/w
7-40	-	65	-	1	-	-
40-49	1	52	-	4	-	-
49-62	-	47	-	3	-	-
62-87	-	68	-	2	-	-

Depth (cm)	Grenate % w/w	Grossular % w/w	Muscovite % w/w	Rutile % w/w	Sillimanite % w/w	Spinel % w/w
7-40	-	-	25	-	-	-
40-49	-	-	23	1	-	-
49-62	-	-	28	2	-	-
62-87	-	-	24	-	-	-

Profile description

O 0-7 cm	(5YR 2/1.5, dry)moderate fine subangular blocky,abrupt smooth boundary to,
E 7-40 cm	light brownish grey (10YR 6/2, dry)Description sand slightly gravelly,moderate coarse subangular blocky,clear wavy boundary to,
Bh 40-49 cm	dark reddish brown (5YR 3/3, dry)Description sand gravelly,moderate medium subangular blocky,frequent medium gravel fresh quartzite frequent medium gravel weathered schist fragments,abrupt wavy boundary to,
Bms 49-52 cm	strong brown (7.5YR 5/6, dry)strong very coarse platy,few medium gravel fresh quartzite few medium gravel weathered schist fragments,continuous platy strongly cemented iron pan pans,abrupt wavy boundary to,
Bs 50-62 cm	very pale brown (10YR 7/4, dry)reddish yellow (7.5YR 7/6, dry),Description sand gravelly,Description sand gravelly,moderate medium subangular blocky,single grain,few medium gravel fresh quartzite few medium gravel weathered schist fragments,few medium gravel fresh quartzite few medium gravel weathered schist fragments,gradual wavy boundary to,

Depth1	85cm
Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	mixed lithology and composition
Kind 2 (parent material) (second entry); Parker (eds), 1984	metamorphic rock
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	glacial till
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material (second entry)	solid rock
Remarks on Parent Materials	2: Pre-Cambrian
Soil Depth	50cm

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

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	shrubland, grazed
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	Low grasses and heath: Erica mediterranea
Status of vegetation; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	modified
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	dwarf shrub

Altitude	50m
Physiographic Unit	hill slope
Physiographic position of the site	lower slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	hill
Slope	4%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Lower limit of a slow permeable or stagnating layer in the profile	50cm
Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	moderately 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	moderate
Estimated run off (class)	medium
Drainage class - intergrade; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	well
Upper limit of a slow permeable or stagnating layer in the profile	49cm

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Evidence of salt; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-saline

You are here

Reference soil Ireland 09: Podzol

Characteristics

Reference soil IE009: Podzols

Classification