Reference soil Greenland 04: Cryosol

GL004

Cryosols typically occur in arctic and mountainous regions where permanently frozen subsoil or "permafrost" is found.

Characteristics

Soils having one or more cryic horizons (horizon with evidence of being perennially frozen) within 100 cm from the soil surface.

Distribution of Cryosols (rough estimation supplied by soilgrids)

Leaflet | ISRIC

Reference soil GL004: Cryosols

MICROTOPOGRAPHY: elongated hummocks follow the slope

Classification

WRB 2006

WRB 1998

Umbric-Turbic- Cryosol (Arenic)

Umbri-Turbic- Cryosol (Stagnic)

0-40 cm

umbric horizon

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Umbrihumi-Gelic Cambisol gelundic

Gelic Cambisol

0-40 cm	umbric A horizon
-	permafrost
-	strongly humic

0-40 cm	umbric A horizon
-	permafrost

Other classification

USDA-SCS (1975)

Cryumbrept sandy-skeletal mixed frigid

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
0-5	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5-30	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
30-40	24	-	-	-	-	-	96.5	1.8	0.7	2.5	1.1
45-	33	-	-	-	-	-	-	0.2	0.5	0.7	1.0

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
30-40	-	-	-	-	1.1
45-	-	-	-	-	1.0

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
0-5	4.5	3.6	0.10	-	-	0.75	-	-	-	1.8	2.4	5.8	1.0	11
5-30	5.1	4.1	0.12	-	8.10	0.39	21	2.5	2.0	0.4	0.4	1.0	0.4	2.2
30-40	5.9	4.7	0.02	-	2.70	0.10	27	1.1	0.9	0.7	0.4	0.2	0.4	1.7
45-	6.2	5.0	0.01	-	0.50	0.07	7	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.4	1.1

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 %
0-5	18	59.5	-	-	-	-	2
5-30	8	28	-	28.4	-	7	1
30-40	13	13	-	9.5	-	7	3
45-	22	5	-	1.8	-	6	8

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
0-5	7.1	-	-	0.22	-	0.46	0.16	0.26	0.14	-	0.46
5-30	9.5	-	-	0.54	-	0.78	0.41	0.40	0.43	-	0.73
30-40	9.6	-	-	0.42	-	0.64	0.28	0.21	0.50	-	1.05
45-	9.3	-	-	0.22	-	0.29	0.16	0.03	0.38	-	1.13

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
0-5	-	-	-	4.1	-	-	-	-	-
5-30	-	-	-	4.5	-	-	-	-	-
30-40	-	-	-	4.8	-	-	-	-	-
45-	-	-	-	5.1	-	-	-	-	-

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
0-5	18.0	6.78	10.1	0.60	5.98	3.46	52.9	1.50
5-30	18.7	6.42	10.0	0.40	5.58	3.57	53.0	1.70
30-40	14.0	5.77	17.0	0.40	7.86	2.73	48.2	3.41
45-	7.9	3.86	30.3	0.23	9.03	1.46	38.0	8.80

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
0-5	2.8	-	0.11	0.54	5.0	13.9	3.7
5-30	2.9	-	0.10	0.40	4.8	14.0	3.6
30-40	1.3	-	0.15	0.46	5.8	7.5	3.3
45-	0.4	-	0.21	0.29	8.2	3.3	2.4

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
30-40	-	medium	-	-	-	-	medium	small	medium	medium	small	large
45-	-	weak	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	weak	medium to strong	weak to medium	weak	strong

Rare clay minerals

Depth (cm)	Amphibole	Augite	Calcite	Lepidococrite	Pyrophillite	Pyroxene	Weddelite
30-40	small	-	-	-	-	medium	-
45-	small	-	-	-	-	small	-

Profile description

Oi 0-5 cm	(10YR 2/3, moist)organic slightly,highly porous (>60 vol%),very fine throughout roots,abrupt wavy boundary to,
He 5-30 cm	(10YR 1.7/1, moist)Description sand organic moderately,porous massive,slightly sticky slightly plastic,highly porous (>60 vol%),very fine and fine throughout roots,gradual wavy boundary to,
Ah 30-40 cm	(10YR 2.5/3, dry) very dark brown (7.5YR 2/2, moist)Description sand organic moderately,weak medium crumb,slightly sticky non plastic,moderately porous (40-60 vol%),fine and medium throughout roots,gradual wavy boundary to,
B 40-45 cm	dark yellowish brown (10YR 3/4, dry) very dark brown (7.5YR 2/2, moist)weak medium crumb,loose non sticky non plastic,fine and medium throughout roots,abrupt broken boundary to,
C 45- cm	dark brown (7.5YR 3/4, moist)porous massive,common stones fresh charnocite fragments,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	granite
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	charnocite
Texture of parent material	sandy
Texture of parent material (second entry)	sandy
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	slightly

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	(semi-)natural vegetation
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	VEGETATION: Top of hummocks: Salix herbacea, Carex bigelowii, lichen vegetation; edges of hummocks: mostly lichens; depressional areas: lichens and locally mosses (Sphagnum sp)
Major vegetation type; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	tundra

Altitude	25m
Physiographic Unit	footslope below area with rock outcrops
Physiographic position of the site	middle slope
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	piedmont
Slope	15%
Slope Aspect	north
Form of the slope surrounding the site	straight
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	hilly

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
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	moderate
Estimated run off (class)	rapid

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-alkaline
Microrelief Height: variation in height	25
Micro relief type: small-scale differences in relief in the direct vicinity of the site (FAO, 1986)	hummocks
Microrelief pattern	linear
Evidence of salt; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	non-saline
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	very few stones

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Reference soil Greenland 04: Cryosol

Characteristics

Reference soil GL004: Cryosols

Classification