Reference soil India 08: Vertisol

IN008

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 IN008: Vertisols

A deep, moderately well drained very dark grayish brown soil derived from basalt. Tap and fibrous roots are commonin the first two horizons and fibrous roots are present in the third and fourth horizons. Clay content increases with depth. The slope is 1 to 3% with slight erosion. Cycle of micro-high and micro-low has been observed in the moist subsurface horizons. Few concretions of manganese and iron oxides are present. Slickensides are present in all subsurface horizons. Internal drainage is moderate and few faint dark yellowish brown mottles can be observed in the lower subsoil.

Classification

WRB 2014

Vertisol

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1988

FAO-UNESCO-ISRIC 1974

Orthi-Calcic Vertisol gilgai

Chromic Vertisol

- cm	calcic horizon
- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
-	slickensides

- cm	calcic horizon
- cm	cambic B horizon
- cm	ochric A horizon
-	gilgai microrelief
-	slickensides

Local classification:	Deep black soil

Other classification

USDA-NRCS (1999)	Udic Calciustert
USDA-SCS (1975)	Udic Chromustert ustic fine montmorillonitic isohyperthermic

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
0-17	-	0.3	0.2	0.5	0.9	0.7	2.6	12.9	48.5	61.4	36
17-44	-	0.1	0.2	0.5	0.8	0.6	2.2	7.8	47.6	55.4	42.4
44-71	-	1.5	3	0.8	0.8	0.6	6.7	11.5	42.4	53.9	39.4
71-120	-	3.8	5	1.4	11.4	0.9	22.5	8.1	38.3	46.4	31.1

Water retention characteristics

Depth (cm)	Bulk density kg/dm³	Spec. Surf. Area m²/g	COLE cm/cm	Water disp. clay %	Clay % w/w
0-17	-	-	-	-	36
17-44	-	-	-	-	42.4
44-71	-	-	-	-	39.4
71-120	-	-	-	-	31.1

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
0-17	7.8	6.4	0.27	4.3	0.37	0.04	9	-	-	50.3	8.4	0.7	0.3	59.7
17-44	7.9	6.5	0.28	3.7	0.24	0.03	8	-	-	47.8	11.9	0.5	0.3	60.5
44-71	8.0	6.7	0.39	21.3	0.17	0.02	9	-	-	47.8	15.0	0.4	0.3	63.5
71-120	8.1	6.8	0.29	27.8	0.17	0.02	9	-	-	37.8	18.6	0.4	0.3	57.1

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 %
0-17	104	57.4	159	1.3	-	-	-
17-44	105	57.4	135	0.8	-	-	-
44-71	118	53.9	137	0.6	-	-	-
71-120	109	52.2	168	0.6	-	-	-

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
0-17	-	-	-	-	-	1.64	0.21	-	-	-	-
17-44	-	-	-	-	-	1.72	0.21	-	-	-	-
44-71	-	-	-	-	-	1.48	0.16	-	-	-	-
71-120	-	-	-	-	-	1.34	0.14	-	-	-	-

Clay mineralogy

Depth (cm)	Chlorite	Feldspar	Gibbsite	Goethite	Halloysite	Hematite	Kaolinite	Mica / illite	Mixed-layer	Quartz	Smec	Vermiculite
0-17	weak	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	weak to medium	weak	very strong	-
17-44	weak	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	weak to medium	weak	very strong	-
44-71	weak	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	weak to medium	weak	very strong	-
71-120	weak	-	-	-	-	-	weak to medium	-	weak	weak	very strong	-

Profile description

Ap 0-17 cm	(10YR 3.5/2, dry)clay loam,weak medium subangular blocky,hard firm sticky plastic,small irregular calcareous concretions,irregular boundary to,
17-44 cm	very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2, moist)clay loam,weak medium subangular blocky,hard firm sticky plastic,broken thin slickensides cutans,small irregular calcareous concretions,
Bki1 44-71 cm	very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2, moist)clay,moderate coarse subangular blocky,hard firm sticky plastic,continuous thin slickensides cutans,
Bki2 71-120 cm	very dark greyish brown (10YR 3/2, moist)clay,strong very coarse subangular blocky,hard firm very sticky very plastic,few faint mottles (10YR 4/4),continuous thin slickensides cutans,

Kind 1 (parent material) ; Parker (eds), 1984	fine-grained basic igneous rock
Mode of accumulation or deposition of parent material	residual material
Remarks on Parent Materials	basalt
Soil Depth	120cm
Weathering Resistance	moderate
General characterization of the status of weathering of solid rock	highly

Occurrence of soil aggradation (McDonald et al., 1984)	not apparent
Intensity of the soil erosion type	slight
Soil erosion type	sheet

Land use or vegetation in the immediate vicinity of the site	fallow
Remarks on Land Use / Vegetation	Acacia arabica, Butea frondosa

Altitude	280m
Physiographic Unit	gently sloping midland
Regional landform; McDonald, R.C., Isbell, R.F. et all, 1984; Australian soil and land survey Field Handbook, Inkata Press, Melbourne.	plateau
Slope	2%
Topography; Guidelines for soil description - Fourth edition (FAO, Rome, 2006)	flat or almost flat

Lower limit of a slow permeable or stagnating layer in the profile	120cm
Drainage class ; FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description	moderately well
Dry From - To	0-17cm
Flooding frequency (FAO, 1986)	never
Kind of ground water table (USDA, 1979)	no groundwater table observed
Moist From - To	17-120cm
Estimated permeability (class) of least permeable part of the profile	slow
Estimated run off (class)	slow
Upper limit of a slow permeable or stagnating layer in the profile	71cm

Evidence of alkali ; Soil Survey Manual USDA, 1951	slightly alkaline
Surface cracking	large cracks (width more than 1 cm, or depth more than 50 cm)
Micro relief type: small-scale differences in relief in the direct vicinity of the site (FAO, 1986)	gilgai
Microrelief pattern	reticulate
Rock outcrop class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none
Surface stoniness class (FAO (2006) - Guidelines for soil description)	none

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Reference soil India 08: Vertisol

Characteristics

Reference soil IN008: Vertisols

Classification