Reference soil Ireland 11: Luvisol

IE011

Luvisols occur mainly in temperate regions, particularly in areas with a Mediterranean-type of climate.

Characteristics

Soils having an argic horizon (a subsurface horizon with a distinct higher clay content than the overlying horizon) with a cation exchange capacity equal to or more than 24 cmolc per kg clay throughout.

Distribution of Luvisols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Reference soil IE011: Luvisols

Parent material: glacial till, predominantly limestone composition,with admixture of shales,sandstones and some vulcanic materials (Weichselian). Vegetation: abundant occurence of rushes. Profile: Mottling in top horizons concentrated along rootchannels Presence of illuvial B horizons below 23 cm indicated by grain size analysis and micromorphology.

Classification

WRB 1998

Albi-Gleyic- Luvisol (Epidystric)

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Albi-Gleyic Luvisol

Gleyic Luvisol

Local classification:	Podzolic Gley, Howardstown Series

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Ochraqualf fine mixed mesic

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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
0-8	0	-	-	-	-	-	25.8	13.6	30.3	43.9	30.3
8-26	6	-	-	-	-	-	25.8	11.8	30.3	42.1	29.1
26-33	13	-	-	-	-	-	24.4	7.3	31.3	38.6	37
40-60	16	-	-	-	-	-	19.1	8.9	38.3	47.2	33.7
60-80	19	-	-	-	-	-	19	7.5	38.6	46.1	34.9

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-8	-	-	-	-	30.3
8-26	-	-	-	-	29.1
26-33	-	-	-	-	37
40-60	-	-	-	-	33.7
60-80	-	-	-	-	34.9

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
0-8	6.2	5.8	-	-	-	0.71	-	-	-	13.2	1.1	0.3	0.0	14.6
8-26	4.3	3.9	-	-	3.72	0.34	11	-	-	2.9	0.7	0.1	0.0	3.7
26-33	5.3	4.1	-	-	0.80	0.08	10	-	-	4.0	0.9	0	0.0	4.9
40-60	7.9	7.3	-	-	0.31	0.04	8	-	-	12.9	0.9	0.1	0.0	13.9
60-80	8.2	7.5	-	-	0.22	0.02	11	-	-	12.2	0.7	0.1	0.0	13

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 %
0-8	45	32.4	107	-	-	-	-
8-26	18	20.4	70	-	-	-	-
26-33	28	17.3	47	-	-	-	-
40-60	85	16.4	49	-	-	-	-
60-80	98	13.3	38	-	-	-	-

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
0-8	-	-	-	0.2	0	0.7	0.1	-	-	-	0.6
8-26	-	-	-	0.2	0	1.3	0.2	-	-	-	0.7
26-33	-	-	-	0.1	0	4.4	0.5	-	-	-	0.2
40-60	-	-	-	0.1	0	2.6	0.3	-	-	-	0.1
60-80	-	-	-	0.1	0	1.9	0.2	-	-	-	0.1

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
0-8	50.6	25	5.5	0.21	1.68	3.41	0.17	1.44
8-26	49.5	25.4	5.8	0.08	1.6	3.5	0.24	1.39
26-33	43.8	23.2	14.4	0.04	1.8	4.58	0.16	1.19
40-60	47.9	24.8	10.3	0.12	2.45	5.42	0.16	1.11
60-80	45.1	26.7	11.6	0	0.77	3.62	0.85	0.91

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
0-8	0.01	0.56	10.6	99.2	3.4	24.3	3	7
8-26	0	0.31	9.8	97.6	3.3	22.9	2.9	6.9
26-33	0.11	0.16	8.4	97.8	3.2	8.1	2.3	2.5
40-60	0.13	0.24	6.7	99.3	3.3	12.4	2.6	3.8
60-80	0.06	0.57	8.5	98.7	2.9	10.3	2.2	3.6

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
0-8	8.6	1.1	2.5	1.36	0.64	0.25	64.1	0.79
8-26	9.5	0.21	3	1.49	0.56	0.3	72.5	0.88
26-33	11.9	0.21	8.2	2.43	0.88	0.33	70.8	0.92
40-60	12.4	3.16	6.3	2.81	1.45	0.29	65.5	0.93
60-80	9.8	12.73	3.6	2.33	2.03	0.29	52.6	0.72

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
0-8	5.4	19.9	0.01	0.29	12.6	68.3	10.7
8-26	5.0	9.9	0	0.18	13	64.3	10.8
26-33	2.3	5.5	0.08	0.06	10.1	23.0	7.0
40-60	3.1	6.6	0.15	0.19	9	27.7	6.8
60-80	4.3	13.9	0.07	0.19	9.1	38.9	7.4

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-8	strong	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	strong	strong	strong	very weak to weak	-
8-26	strong	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	strong	strong	strong	very weak to weak	-
26-33	strong	-	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	weak to medium	strong	very weak to weak	-
40-60	strong	-	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	weak to medium	strong	very weak to weak	-
60-80	strong	-	-	-	-	-	strong	strong	very weak to weak	strong	very weak to weak	-

Profile description

Ah 0-8 cm	very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2, moist)clay loam,moderate medium crumb,hard friable sticky plastic,common fine faint clear mottles (7.5 YR 3/4),gradual smooth boundary to,
E 8-23 cm	brown (10YR 5/3, moist)clay loam,strong very fine subangular blocky,slightly hard very friable sticky plastic,many fine distinct sharp mottles (2.5 YR 3/6),clear wavy boundary to,
Btg1 26-40 cm	clay loam slightly gravellymoderate fine angular blocky,sticky plastic,many prominent clear mottles (2.5 Y 6/4) and many prominent mottles (10 YR 5/8),few medium gravel irregular limest/volcanic fine gravel fragments,gradual smooth boundary to,
Btg2 40-60 cm	clay loam slightly gravellyweak fine subangular blocky,sticky plastic,many prominent clear mottles (10 YR 5/8) and prominent mottles (10 YR 6/2),broken on pedfaces cutans,very few small hard calcareous crystals,few medium gravel irregular limest/volcanic fine gravel fragments,gradual smooth boundary to,
BCg 80-110 cm	clay loam gravellyweak angular blocky,sticky very plastic,many prominent clear mottles (10 YR 7/2) and many prominent mottles (10 YR 5/6),broken on pedfaces cutans,very few small hard calcareous crystals,few medium gravel irregular limest/volcanic fine gravel fragments,

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	cultivated pasture
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	Pasture medium to poor quality

Altitude	80m
Physiographic Unit	small plateau
Physiographic position of the site	flat
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	glacial plain
Slope	0%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	undulating

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	poor
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	slow
Estimated run off (class)	slow

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

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	limestone
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	glacial till
Texture of parent material (second entry)	gravelly

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Reference soil Ireland 11: Luvisol

Characteristics

Reference soil IE011: Luvisols

Classification