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Puerto Rico Oxisols-Highly Weathered,Red Soils of the Tropics

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Puerto Rico Oxisols-Highly Weathered,Red Soils of the Tropics AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPML;4 FOR AID USE ONLY WASHINGTON. 0. C. 20523 BiBL;OGRAPHIC INPUT SHEET 16IIA.-C~ i A. PRIMARY l.SUBJECT Agriculture AF22-0000-G339 CLASSI- FCASI- SECONDARY FICATON IS. Soil chemistry and physics--Puerto Rico 2. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Oxisols-highly weathered,red soils of the tropics 3. AUTHOR(S) Beinroth,F.H. 4. DOCUMENT DATE S.NUMBER OF PAGES 8. ARC NUMBER 1973I 5p. ARC 7. REFERENCE ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS Puerto Rico 8. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES (Sponcoring Organization, Publiahers, Availability) (InSoils of the southern States and Puerto Rico,ed.by S.W.Buol,p.87-91) 9. ABSTRACT 10. CONTROL NUMBER 11. PRICE OF DOCUMENT PN-RAB-104 12. DESCRIPTORS 13. PROJECT NUMBER Puerto Rico 14. CONTRACT NUMBER CSD-2857 211(d) 15. TYPE OF DOCUMENT AID 590.1 (4-74) Chapter 12 OXISOLS-IIGIILY WEATIIERED, RED SOILS OF TIlE TROPICS F. H. Beinroth Introduction and General Setting of a western spur of the Cordillera Central, there Although the term "laterite" readily springs to ranging in altitude from 200 to 500 m. (600 to mind when the tipic of red tropical soils is raised, 1,500 feet), and consisting of ultrabasic plutonic it is but one of many names that have been pro- rocks (serpentinite) of Early Cretaceous age. For posed to characterize these soils. Latosols, Ferra- the most part this area is strongly dissected and lities, and Terra Roxa are some other of these only in a few places have older erosion surfaces vaguely defined and often synonymously used been preserved. As it is on those remnants where terms. Inthe,USDA Soil Taxonomy many of the Oxisols occur, they are of minor extent (some soils so named are included inthe order of the 600 ha. or 1,500 acres) and are included in map­ Oxisols. ping unit T 5. SatThirdly, Oxisols are found in the central up­ Oxisols are confined to tropical areas. Puerto lands of the Island. There they are developed in Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are, therefore, andesitic-basaltic volcanic rocks of Cretaceous age the only places within the Southern Region where (Beinroth, 1969). These Oxisols occupy moderate­ such soils are to be expected. However, it is only ly sloping, bench-like positions that are strikingly on the island of Puerto Rico where they are ac- contrasting to the very dissected adjacent moun­ tually encountered and where three distinct areas tains. These isolated areas are mainly found at of occurrence can be distinguished, altitudes between 600 and 750 m. (1,800 to 2,250 First, there is a discontinuous band of varying feet) in the headwaters of streams north of the width extending from the northwest corner of the main water divide of the Island and are considered Island to the periphery of the metropolitan area part of an old peneplain that is now greatly dis­ of San Juan. This area comprises some 31,000 ha. sected (Daniels et al., 1972). Consequently the (77,000 acres) and corresponds with mapping preservation of the ancient surfaces is the excep­ units 01 and 02. Here the Oxisols are developed in tion rather than the rule. Since Oxisols are only clayey to sandy sediments of largely Quaternary found on these remnants, they are not the pre­ age known as "blanket deposits" (Briggs, 1966). dominant soil type of the uplands (Beinroth, The eastern part of this zone of Oxisols lies be- 1971). They are ,stimated to comprise approxi­ tween a belt of Tertiary limestones to the south mately 17,000 ha (40,000 acres) and are included and the Recent floodplains, marshes and lagoons in mapping units 119, U 70, and U 29. to the north. The topography is subdued and hum- The climate throughout the Oxisol area of mocky and characteristically contains karst fea- Puerto Rico is maritime humid tropical. Mean tures in the form of .ione-shaped limestone hills annual air temperatures in the coastal areas range and some sinkholes. These almost level areas lie at from 24.5 to 25.5'C (76-78°F) ; those of the up­ altitudes between 10 and 50 m. (30 to 150 feet), land from 23.5 to 24.5°C (74-76"F). The tempera­ and are probably Pleistocene marine terraces. In ture differences between the coolest and the warm­ the western part these plains assume a plateau- est months are small in both cases and amount to like aspect and the littoral alluvials diminish to a 3 to 4.5°C (5-8'F). narrow band. The broad undulating plain3 range Mean annual precipitation along the coast aver­ in elevation from 50 to 100 m. (150 to 300 feet) ages 150 to 175 cm. (60-70"), and 200 to 300 cm. and are bordered to the south by limnestone hills (80-90") in the interior. The distribution of rain­ and by the escarpment that marks the locally cliff- fall during the year is uneven. While dry spells are like break to the Atlantic Ocean. not infrequent, seasonability is not strongly re­ The second area of Oxisols is located southeast flected by longterm averages. of Mayaquez in western Puerto Rico. It forms part The native climax vegetation of Puerto Rico's 87 Oxisol area has been characterized as Humid slightly sticky and slightly plastic but in a few Tropical Forest (Little and Wadsworth, 1964), cases nonsticky and nonplastic. but today's plant cover is almost entirely con- Colors vary from dark reddish brown (2.5YR trolled by man. The original forest along the 3/4) to dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) in the topsoil coastal area was mostly evergreen and was corn- and are dusky red (7.5YR 3/6 and 1OR 3/4), red posed of species like Corozo palm (Hymenaea (2.5YR 4/6) or dark reddish brown (2.5YR 3/6) courbaril), black olive (Bucida buceras), West In- in the subsoil. dian locust (Acrocmia media), and Spanish cedar Among the prominent chemical properties of (Cedrella odorata). Prominent species of the for- these soils is a reaction that it very strongly acid mations of the uplands included trumpet tree (pH 4.2 to 5.0) in the subsoil. Cation exchange (Cecropiapeltata), angelin tree (Andira inermis), capacity, of the sum total of exchangeable cations candlewood (Dacryodes excelsa), and tree fern a soil can absorb, ranges from 11.4 to 25.4 meq. (Cyatheaarborea). per 100 g. of soil in the A horizons but drops markedly to 4.1 to 7.6 in the subsoil (Soil Survey MORPHOLOGY OF OXISOLS Staff, 1967). This decrease is conditioned by the vertical distribution of organic matter which con­ tributes significantly to the cation exchange ca­ other areas, have relatively featureless profiles. pacity. Contrary to general belief, the topsoil of They are reddish brown or dark red clay soils of pct.Cnrr ognrlbletetpolo cneraleredeph thatn ocupy smohr lanscapso Oxisols contains usually a high amount of organic considerable depth that occupy smooth landscapes matter although this is not reflected in the soil and exhibit characteristics associated with ex- color. The organic carbon levels in the Oxisols of treme weathering. The soil mass shows little dis- Puerto Rico range from 2.5 to 4.5 percent or more tinct horizon differentiation and has no strong macrostructure but is highly porous and perme- in the surface horizon but decreases to 0.2 to 0.5 able. Being exceedingly weathered soils, they have percent in the subsoil. As regards plantwhich nutrients, in some a low natural asoilsoilo fertility.fetiltythesenaura profilessoils amounts are deficient only toin calciumtraces inl the subsoil. The sola of the Oxisols of Puerto Rico are com- Pofi ous on ly o e e subsil. monly from 100 to 150 cm. (40 to 60 inches) thick. Potassium occurs in similarly low levels varying The horizonation pattern in characterized by an from 0.4 to 0.6 meq. per 100 g of soil. Correspond­ A-132-C sequence. The A horizon, usually the plow ingly the values for base saturation percentage, layer, is underlain by a series of B2 horizons con- i.e. the extent to which the adsorption complex is sisting of a residual concentration of sesquioxides saturated with exchangeable cations other than and silicate clays, and C horizons composed of hydrogen, are low and commonly less than 10. very highy weathered rocks (saprolite) or clays. Only the soils where limestone occurs at shallow Some of the Oxisols along the north coast of depths have higher values, likely due to secondary Puerto Rico rest abruptly on limestone and are of recharge by capillarity. shallow depth. Although 5 or more horizons can i Mineralogically, the clay fraction is character­ be differentiated, the soil profile has a uniform ap- ized by kaolinite and halloysite, minerals belong­ pearance since the horizon separation is based on ing to the group of aluminosilicates of the 1:1 minor differences in color and structure. crystal lattice type. Kaolinite and halloysite are The texture of the Oxisols of Puerto Rico is the predominant mineral in the clay fraction f invariably clay, and the proportion of the clay all Puerto Rican Oxisols except those in mapping fraction (particles smaller than 0.002 mm.) fre- unit T5 where the aluminum mineral gibbsite, Al quently exceeds 60 percent. In spite of this high (0nd)3, exceeds the amount of kaolinite. Oxides clay content there is little or no exidence (such as and hydi'ous oxides of iron (goethite, hematite, clay skins) that clay is moving in the profile. magnotite) are further characteristic and impor­ Oxisols do not, therefore, have a zone of clay ac- tant constituents because they control any soil cumulation (argillic horizon).
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