Lecture Notes on the Major Soils of the World
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LECTURE NOTES ON THE GEOGRAPHY, FORMATION, PROPERTIES AND USE OF THE MAJOR SOILS OF THE WORLD P.M. Driessen & R. Dudal (Eds) in Q AGRICULTURAL KATHOLIEKE 1 UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITEIT ^.. WAGENINGEN LEUVEN \^ ivr^ - SI I 82 o ) LU- w*y*'tinge n ökSjuiOTHEEK ÎCANDBOUWUNWERSIIEI^ WAGENINGEN TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION The FAO-Unesco classificationo f soils 3 Diagnostichorizon s anddiagnosti cpropertie s 7 Key toMajo r SoilGrouping s 11 Correlation 14 SET 1. ORGANIC SOILS Major SoilGrouping :HISTOSOL S 19 SET 2. MINERAL SOILS CONDITIONED BYHUMA N INFLUENCES Major SoilGrouping :ANTHROSOL S 35 SET 3. MINERAL SOILS CONDITIONED BYTH E PARENT MATERIAL Major landforms involcani c regions 43 Major SoilGrouping :ANDOSOL S 47 Major landforms inregion swit h sands 55 Major SoilGrouping :ARENOSOL S 59 Major landforms insmectit eregion s 65 Major SoilGrouping :VERTISOL S 67 SET 4. MINERAL SOILS CONDITIONED BYTH E TOPOGRAPHY/PHYSIOGRAPHY Major landforms inalluvia l lowlands 83 Major SoilGroupings :FLUVISOL S 93 (with specialreferenc e toThioni c Soils) GLEYSOLS 105 Major landforms inerodin gupland s 111 Major SoilGroupings :LEPTOSOL S 115 REGOSOLS 119 SET 5. MINERAL SOILS CONDITIONED BYTHEI RLIMITE D AGE Major SoilGrouping : CAMBISOLS 125 SET 6. MINERAL SOILS CONDITIONED BYA WE T (SUB)TROPICAL CLIMATE Major landforrasi ntropica l regions 133 Major SoilGroupings :PLINTHOSOL S 139 FERRALSOLS 147 NITISOLS 157 ACRISOLS 161 ALISOLS 167 LIXISOLS 171 SET 7. MINERAL SOILS CONDITIONED BYA (SEMI-)AR-ID CLIMATE Major landforms inari d regions 177 Major SoilGroupings :SOLONCHAK S 181 SOLONETZ 191 GYPSISOLS 197 CALCISOLS 203 SET 8. MINERAL SOILS CONDITIONED BYA STEPPIC CLIMATE Major landforms instepp e regions 211 Major Soil Groupings:KASTANOZEM S 215 CHERNOZEMS 219 PHAEOZEMS 227 GREYZEMS 231 SET 9. MINERAL SOILS CONDITIONED BYA (SUB)HUMID TEMPERATE CLIMATE Major landforms intemperat e regions 237 Major SoilGroupings :LUVISOL S 241 P0DZ0LUVIS0LS 247 PLANOSOLS 253 PODZOLS 259 REFERENCES Literature cited 269 ANNEXES Annex 1 Definitions ofdiagnosti c horizons 275 Annex 2 Definitions ofdiagnosti c properties 281 Annex 3 Definitions ofphase s 287 Annex 4 Soilhorizo ndesignation s 291 PREFACE These Lecture Noteswer e co-producedb y theAgricultura l University Wageningen, theNetherlands ,an d theFacult y ofAgricultura l Sciences of the Catholic University ofLeuven ,Belgium , insuppor t of introductory courses on SoilGeograph y and Classification. TheRevise d Legend of the FAO-Unesco SoilMa p of theWorl d (FAO,1988 )i s followed to structure the discussion of the distribution, formation, characteristics,managemen t andus e of themajo r soils of theworld . The following personshav e contributed to this syllabus: Blokhuis,W.A . Introduction, Cambisols,Vertisol s Bouma,J . Gleysols, Leptosols, Regosols Driessen, P.M. Introduction,Arenosols ,Calcisols , Gypsisols,Histosols ,Solonchaks , Solonetz Dudal, R. Introduction (The FAO-Unesco Clas sification of soils) Dijkerman, J.C. Ferralsols,Nitisols , Plinthosols Kroonenberg, S.B. Landforms (volcanic regions,sands , smectite regions, lowlands, eroding uplands,we t tropics,ari dregions , steppe regions,temperat e regions) Legger,D . Acrisols,Alisols ,Ferralsols ,Lixi - sols, Luvisols Miedema, R. Anthrosols,Greyzems , Podzoluvisols Mulders, M.A. Chernozems,Kastanozems ,Phaeozem s Poels,R.H.L . Planosols, Podzols VanMensvoort ,M.E.F . Fluvisols VanReeuwijk , L.P. Andosols The generoushel p received from the International SoilReferenc e and Information Centre (ISRIC),Wageningen ,whic hmad e available reference materials and illustrations, isgratefull y acknowledged. These Lecture Notes are for internalus e only; they are still ina first stage ofdevelopmen t andwil lb eprogressivel y improved.Sugges tions for amendments or additions aremos twelcome . Wageningen andLeuven ,Jul y 1989 TheEditors , P.M. Driessen R. Dudal Dept. of Soil Science &Geology , Faculty ofAgricultura l Sciences, Agricultural University, Catholic University Leuven, P.O. Box 37 92Kardinaa l Mercierlaan 6700AA Wageningen B-3030 Leuven theNetherland s Belgium INTRODUGTION Introduction 3 INTRODUCTION Soils are formed through the impact of climate. vegetation & fauna, (including Man) and topography on the soil's parent material, over a variable time span. The relative importance of each of these five 'soil forming factors' insoi l formation (or 'pedogenesis')varie s amongsites ; this explainswh y there is such agrea tvariet y ofsoils . With few exceptions,soil s are still ina proces s of change; they show in their 'soil profile' signs of differentiation or alteration of the soil material, indicative ofa particula r pedogenetic history. Traditional soil names often indicate a domination of one soil forming factor over all other factors. Examples are 'desert soils' (the factor climate dominating), 'plaggen soils' (man), 'prairie soils' (vegetation), 'mountain soils' (topography), or 'volcanic ash soils' (parentmaterial) . Alternatively, soilname s refer toa dominan t single soil characteristic, e.g. the colour ('brown soils'), a chemical characteristic ('alkali soils'), ora particula r physical attribute ('hydromorphic soils'). THEFAO-UNESC O CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS Soils are identified through a system of soilclassification .Man y such systemshav ebee n developed; they differwidel ybecaus e they arebase d on different appreciations of soil formation,an dus e different criteria and different hierarchical subdivisions. The soil classification system used inthi s syllabus isth eon edevelope db y FAO (1974,1988 )fo rth eprepara tion of the FAO-Unesco Soil Map of the World at scale 1:5,000,000. This systemha s ageographi c dimension through theWorl d SoilMap . In this syllabus, the 28 'Major Soil Groupings' that are distinguished atth ehighes t taxonomieleve l inth eFAO-Unesc o classification,hav ebee n grouped in nine 'Sets' by applying a three-step key which addresses the evolutionary and geographic background of thesoils : First, a separation ismad ebetwee norgani c soils andminera lsoils ; Secondly, mineral soils are clustered according to the dominant soil forming factor or factorswhic h conditioned soil formation; Thirdly, clusters are subdivided intoMajo r SoilGrouping s by considering which combinations of soil forming factors occurwithi n eachSet . Table 1present s thenin e Sets thatevolve : SET 1 includes the organic soils, i.e soils with more than a defined quantity of 'organic soilmaterials' .Al lorgani c soilsar eaccomodate d in only oneMajo r SoilGrouping : theHISTOSOLS . SET 2contain s theman-mad e soils. These soilsvar ywidel y inpropertie s and appearance andca noccu r inan y environment influenced by human intervention. They too have been ac comodated inonl y oneMajo r SoilGrouping : theANTHROSOLS . 4 Introduction TABLE1 . AllMajo r Soil Groupings (MSGs)o f the FAO-Unesco system innin e Sets. SETS DOMINANT IDENTIFIERS MSGs SET 1 Organic soils HISTOSOLS SET2 Mineral soils inwhic h soil formation is ANTHROSOLS conditioned byHuma n influences (notconfine d toan yparticula r region) SET3 Mineral soils inwhic h soil formation is conditionedb y Parent Material -Soil s developed involcani c material ANDOSOLS -Soil s developed inresidua l and shifting sands ARENOSOLS -Soil s developed inexpandin g clays VERTISOLS SET 4 Mineral soils inwhic h soil formation is conditioned byTopography/Physiograph y -Soil s inlowland s (wetlands')wit h level topography FLUVISOLS GLEYSOLS -Soil s inelevate d regionswit hnon-leve ltopograph y LEPTOSOLS REGOSOLS SET 5 Mineral soils inwhic h soil formation is CAMBISOLS conditioned by their limitedAg e (not confined toan yparticula r region) SET 6 Mineral soils inwhic h soil formation is PLINTHOSOLS conditioned by theClimat e (&Vegetation ) FERRALSOLS ofwe t tropical and subtropical regions NITISOLS ACRISOLS ALISOLS LIXISOLS SET 7 Mineral soils inwhic h soil formation is SOLONCHAKS conditioned by theClimat e (&Vegetation ) SOLONETZ ofari d and semi-arid regions GYPSISOLS CALCISOLS SET 8 Mineral soils inwhic h soil formationi s KASTANOZEMS conditionedb y theClimat e (&Vegetation ) CHERNOZEMS of steppes and steppic regions PHAEOZEMS GREYZEMS SET 9 Mineral soils inwhic h soil formationi s LUVISOLS conditioned by theClimat e (&Vegetation ) PODZOLUVISOLS of subhumid forest and grassland regions PLANOSOLS PODZOLS Introduction 5 SET 3 includes the mineral soils whose formation is conditioned by the particular properties of theirparen tmaterial . The Set includes threeMajo r SoilGroupings : (1)th e dark and fluffyANDOSOL So fvolcani cregions , (2)th e sandyARENOSOL S ofdeser t areas,beac h ridges,inlan d dunes, areaswit hhighl yweathere d sandstones,etc. ,an d (3)th e swelling and shrinking heavy clayeyVERTISOL S ofbackswamps , riverbasins ,lak ebottoms ,an d otherperiodicall y wet areaswit h a high content ofexpandin g 2:1 latticeclays . SET4 i scompose d ofminera l soilswhos eformatio nwa smarkedl y influen cedb y their topographic/physiographic setting. Such soils canb e found ina low terrainposition ,associate dwit hrecur rent floods and/or prolonged wetness, but also in elevated and/or acci- dented terrainwher e soilformatio n ishindere db y lowtemperature s and/or erosion. The Sethold s fourMajo r SoilGroupings : (1)I n lowareas . they areyoun g alluvial FLUVISOLS which showstrati ficationo r other evidence ofrecen t sedimentation, and (2)non-stratifie dGLEYSOL S inwaterlogge d areas that dono t receive regular additions ofsediment . (3)I nelevate d and/or eroding areas, they are the shallow LEPTOSOLS over