Reference soil Greece 01: Vertisol

GR001

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 GR001: Vertisols

LOCATION: "Tsaliki", 1000 m NW of the village Elia, approximately 150 km N of Alexandroupolis. PARENT MATERIAL: Tertiary, calcareous. CLIMATE: Mediterranean, dry period in summer. CRACKING: Width: 2 cm, down to a depth of 82 cm. HYDROLOGY: Ground water: deeper than 2 meter, there is a deep drainage ditch near the site. HUMAN INFLUENCE: The soil is regularly ploughed and artificially drained. BRIEF CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SOIL: A black, somewhat poorly drained clayey profile with wide cracks down to a depth of 80 cm filled with soil material from overlying horizons. Pronounced intersecting slickensides throughout the profile have an angle of 50 degrees to the surface. The soil is slightly calcareous below 113 cm. There is a lithologic discontinuity below 147 cm where the material is strongly calcareous. ADDITIONAL NOTES ON PROFILE DESCRIPTION: Ap - upper 10 cm: pockets with medium crumb structure. AC1 - slickensides: intersecting. AC2 - slickensides: intersecting. C - root channels: horizontal and vertical, filled with material from the overlying horizons. Throughout: slickensides are pronounced.

Classification

WRB 2014

Vertisol

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Pellic Vertisol

-	slickensides

Local classification:	Grumosol

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Pelloxerert very fine montmorillonitic 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
0-25	0	0.1	0.2	0.8	2.7	4.2	8	10.1	19.4	29.5	62.5
25-82	0	0.1	0.2	0.8	2.5	4.2	7.8	10.4	18.7	29.1	63.1
82-113	0	0	0.2	0.9	3.2	4.4	8.7	8.6	19.9	28.5	62.8
113-147	1	0	0.1	0.8	5	7	12.9	13.3	24.5	37.8	49.3
147-160	1	0.1	0.1	0.5	4.9	7	12.6	13.9	28.4	42.3	45.1

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-25	-	-	-	-	62.5
25-82	-	-	-	-	63.1
82-113	-	-	-	-	62.8
113-147	-	-	-	-	49.3
147-160	-	-	-	-	45.1

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
0-25	7.6	6.8	0.42	-	1.28	0.10	13	-	-	45.7	9.7	1.2	0.4	57
25-82	8.3	7.0	0.46	-	1.02	0.07	15	-	-	44.8	12.0	0.9	2.1	59.8
82-113	8.3	7.1	0.66	-	0.80	0.05	16	-	-	39.7	11.8	0.8	5.4	57.7
113-147	8.2	7.2	1.39	-	0.39	0.04	10	-	-	33.0	8.6	0.7	5.9	48.2
147-160	8.0	7.2	1.5	-	0.29	0.03	10	-	-	31.7	7.9	0.7	5.7	46

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 %
0-25	112	51.1	82	4.5	-	-	-
25-82	114	52.5	83	3.6	-	-	-
82-113	123	47	75	2.8	-	-	-
113-147	137	35.2	71	1.4	-	-	-
147-160	136	33.8	75	1.0	-	-	-

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
0-25	-	-	-	-	-	0.45	0.11	-	-	-	-
25-82	-	-	-	-	-	0.45	0.13	-	-	-	-
82-113	-	-	-	-	-	0.48	0.11	-	-	-	-
113-147	-	-	-	-	-	0.65	0.09	-	-	-	-
147-160	-	-	-	-	-	0.78	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
0-25	52.2	22.1	8.2	0.45	2.32	1.88	-	0.71
25-82	52.2	22.1	8.2	0.44	2.35	1.82	-	0.71
82-113	54.1	20.9	7.7	0.34	2.34	1.94	-	0.76

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
0-25	0.09	0.11	7.8	100.5	4.2	4	16.9	3.2
25-82	0.08	0.09	7.6	100.3	4.2	4	17	3.2
82-113	0.08	0.1	7.1	100.5	4.3	4.4	18.7	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
0-25	17.1	2.06	5.6	2.03	1.69	-	62.1	0.77
25-82	17.4	2.06	5.7	2.02	1.86	-	61.5	0.79
82-113	16.9	3.91	5.7	2.05	2.11	-	59.1	0.75
113-147	16.8	4.24	5.8	2.52	2.43	-	58.3	0.74
147-160	17.2	3.62	6.1	2.75	2.4	-	58.5	0.75

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
0-25	4.8	8.4	0.12	0.07	6.2	29.5	5.1
25-82	4.8	8.2	0.10	0.06	6	28.7	5.0
82-113	4.7	9.1	0.11	0.08	5.9	27.6	4.9
113-147	4.5	7.8	0.10	0.14	5.9	26.8	4.8
147-160	4.4	7.0	0.13	0.14	5.8	25.5	4.7

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-25	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	weak to medium	very strong	-
25-82	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	weak to medium	very strong	-
82-113	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	weak to medium	very strong	very weak to weak
113-147	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	weak to medium	very strong	very weak to weak
147-160	-	very weak to weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak	-	weak to medium	very strong	very weak to weak

Profile description

Api 0-25 cm	dark grey (10YR 4/1, dry) black (10YR 2/1, moist)clay,moderate coarse prismatic parting to strong fine angular blocky,very hard very firm sticky very plastic,slickensides cutans,common very fine pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
AC1 25-83 cm	dark grey (10YR 4/1, dry) black (10YR 2/1, moist)clay,moderate coarse prismatic parting to strong medium angular blocky,very hard very firm sticky very plastic,slickensides cutans,common very fine pores,diffuse smooth boundary to,
AC2 83-113 cm	very dark grey (10YR 3/1, dry) very dark grey (10YR 3/1, moist)clay,weak coarse prismatic parting to strong medium angular blocky,very hard very firm sticky very plastic,slickensides cutans,common very fine pores,diffuse wavy boundary to,
Ci1 113-147 cm	grey (10YR 5/1, dry) dark brown (10YR 3/3, moist)clay,massive,very hard firm sticky plastic,slickensides cutans,common very fine pores,pedotubules,diffuse wavy boundary to,
2Ci2 147-190 cm	greyish brown (10YR 5/2, dry) dark greyish brown (10YR 4/2, moist)silt loam,massive,hard firm sticky plastic,slickensides cutans,few very fine pores,pedotubules,

Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	unconsolidated, unspecified
Remarks on Parent Materials	lacustrine deposits

Major crops	cereals (unspecified)
Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	arable farming

Altitude	60m
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	lacustrine plain
Slope	1%
Slope Aspect	south-east
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	flat or almost flat

Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	poor
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	0-113cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	slow
Wet From To	113-200cm

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)
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 Greece 01: Vertisol

Characteristics

Reference soil GR001: Vertisols

Classification