World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014 International Soil Classification System for Naming Soils and Creating Legends for Soil Maps
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ISSN 0532-0488 WORLD SOIL RESOURCES REPORTS 106 World reference base for soil resources 2014 International soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps Update 2015 Cover photographs (left to right): Ekranic Technosol – Austria (©Erika Michéli) Reductaquic Cryosol – Russia (©Maria Gerasimova) Ferralic Nitisol – Australia (©Ben Harms) Pellic Vertisol – Bulgaria (©Erika Michéli) Albic Podzol – Czech Republic (©Erika Michéli) Hypercalcic Kastanozem – Mexico (©Carlos Cruz Gaistardo) Stagnic Luvisol – South Africa (©Márta Fuchs) Copies of FAO publications can be requested from: SALES AND MARKETING GROUP Information Division Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome, Italy E-mail: [email protected] Fax: (+39) 06 57053360 Web site: http://www.fao.org WORLD SOIL World reference base RESOURCES REPORTS for soil resources 2014 106 International soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps Update 2015 FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2015 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO. ISBN 978-92-5-108369-7 (print) E-ISBN 978-92-5-108370-3 (PDF) © FAO, 2014 Recommended citation: IUSS Working Group WRB. 2015. World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014, update 2015 International soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps. World Soil Resources Reports No. 106. FAO, Rome. FAO encourages the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Except where otherwise indicated, material may be copied, downloaded and printed for private study, research and teaching purposes, or for use in non-commercial products or services, provided that appropriate acknowledgement of FAO as the source and copyright holder is given and that FAO’s endorsement of users’ views, products or services is not implied in any way. All requests for translation and adaptation rights, and for resale and other commercial use rights should be made via www.fao.org/contact-us/licence-request or addressed to [email protected]. FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/publications) and can be purchased through [email protected]. iii Contents Foreword v Acknowledgements vi List of acronyms vii Chapter 1. Background and basics 1 1.1 History 1 1.2 Major changes in WRB 2014 2 1.3 The object classified in the WRB 3 1.4 Basic principles 4 1.5 Architecture 9 1.6 Topsoils 11 1.7 Translation into other languages 11 Chapter 2. The rules for classifying soils and creating map legends 12 2.1 General rules 12 2.2 Rules for classifying soils 13 2.3 Rules for creating map legends 14 2.4 Subqualifiers 16 2.5 Buried soils 21 Chapter 3. Diagnostic horizons, properties and materials 22 Diagnostic horizons 22 Diagnostic properties 61 Diagnostic materials 76 Chapter 4. Key to the Reference Soil Groups 85 with lists of principal and supplementary qualifiers Chapter 5. Definitions of Qualifiers 117 References 140 Annex 1. Description, distribution, use and 144 management of Reference Soil Groups iv Annex 2. Summary of analytical procedures for soil characterization 182 Annex 3. Recommended codes for the Reference Soil Groups, 187 qualifiers and specifiers Annex 4. Soil particle-size and texture classes 192 v Foreword The first edition of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) was released at the 16th World Congress of Soil Science at Montpellier in 1998. At the same event, it was also endorsed and adopted as the system for soil correlation and international communication of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS). The second edition of the WRB was released at the 18th World Congress at Philadelphia in 2006. After an additional eight years of intensive worldwide testing and data collection, the third edition of the WRB is presented. This publication builds on and reflects the valuable work of the authors of the earlier drafts and editions of the WRB, as well as the experiences and contributions of many soil scientists who participated in the work of the IUSS Working Group on the WRB. The WRB is a soil classification system for naming soils and creating soil map legends. It is hoped that this publication will contribute to the understanding of soil science in the general public and in the scientific community. The publication has been made possible by the sustained efforts of a large group of expert authors, as well as the cooperation and logistic support of the IUSS and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Peter Schad (Chair) Cornie van Huyssteen (Vice-Chair) Erika Michéli (Secretary) IUSS Working Group WRB Ronald Vargas Land and Water Development Division Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) vi Acknowledgements This edition has been compiled under the leadership of Peter Schad (Technische Universität München, Freising, Germany), Cornie van Huyssteen (University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa) and Erika Michéli (Szent István University, Gödöllő, Hungary). The fundamental decisions have been made by the members of the WRB Board: Lúcia Anjos (Brazil), Carlos Cruz Gaistardo (Mexico), Seppe Deckers (Belgium), Stefaan Dondeyne (Belgium), Einar Eberhardt (Germany), Maria Gerasimova (Russia), Ben Harms (Australia), Arwyn Jones (European Commission), Pavel Krasilnikov (Russia), Thomas Reinsch (United States of America), Ronald Vargas (FAO), and Ganlin Zhang (China). Language editing was performed by Ben Harms (Australia). The current third edition received contributions from many scientists, among them are: David Badia Villas (Spain), Frank Berding (The Netherlands), Hans-Peter Blume (Germany), Vanda Buivydaite (Lithuania), Wolfgang Burghardt (Germany), Przemysław Charzynski (Poland), Joe Chiaretti (United States of America), Juan Comerma (Venezuela), Carmelo Dazzi (Italy), Mahmut Dingil (Turkey), Arnulfo Encina Rojas (Paraguay), Márta Fuchs (Hungary), Luise Giani (Germany), Sergey Goryachkin (Russia), Alfred Hartemink (United States of America), Juan José Ibañez Martí (Spain), Plamen Ivanov (Bulgaria), Reinhold Jahn (Germany), Jerôme Juilleret (Luxembourg), Cezary Kabała (Poland), Andrzej Kacprzak (Poland), Arno Kanal (Estonia), Nikolay Khitrov (Russia), Roger Langohr (Belgium), Xavier Legrain (Belgium), Andreas Lehmann (Germany), Peter Lüscher (Switzerland), Gerhard Milbert (Germany), Brian Murphy (Australia), Freddy Nachtergaele (FAO), Otmar Nestroy (Austria), Åge Nyborg (Norway), Tatiana Prokofieva (Russia), David Rossiter (The Netherlands), Daniela Sauer (Germany), Jaroslava Sobocká (Slovakia), Karl Stahr (Germany), Leigh Sullivan (Australia), Wenceslau Teixeira (Brazil), Łukasz Uzarowicz (Poland). The Working Group is greatly indebted to two brilliant soil scientists who made tremendous contributions to the development of the WRB and have sadly passed away: Rudi Dudal (Belgium, 1926–2014) was the lead author of the Soil Map of the World, and Otto Spaargaren (The Netherlands, 1944–2015) was for a long time the leading scientist of the WRB Working Group. Finally, the Working Group wishes to express its gratitude to the FAO for its support and for making possible the printing and distribution of this publication. vii List of acronyms Aldith Aluminium extracted by a dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate solution Alox Aluminium extracted by an acid ammonium oxalate solution Alpy Aluminium extracted by a pyrophosphate solution CaCO3 Calcium carbonate CEC Cation exchange capacity COLE Coefficient of linear extensibility EC Electrical conductivity ECe Electrical conductivity of saturation extract ESP Exchangeable sodium percentage FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Fedith Iron extracted by a dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate solution Feox Iron extracted by an acid ammonium oxalate solution Fepy Iron extracted by a pyrophosphate solution HCl Hydrochloric acid ISRIC International Soil Reference and Information Centre ISSS International Society of Soil Science IUSS International Union of Soil Sciences KOH Potassium hydroxide KCl Potassium chloride Mndith Manganese extracted by a dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate solution NaOH Sodium hydroxide NH4OAc Ammonium acetate ODOE Optical density of the oxalate extract RSG Reference Soil Group viii SAR Sodium adsorption ratio Siox Silicon extracted by an acid ammonium oxalate solution SiO2 Silica SUITMA Soils in Urban, Industrial, Traffic, Mining and Military Areas (IUSS working group) TRB Total reserve of bases UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization USDA United States Department of Agriculture WRB World Reference Base for Soil Resources Chapter 1 - Background and basics 1 Chapter 1 Background and basics 1.1 HISTORY From its beginnings to the second edition 2006 The World