Podzols and podzolization in temperate regions ISM Monograph 1 .>-• .....•• f \:. Î / - ••* **«.- r ,-* 't 1 ISM Monograph 1 Podzols and podzolization in temperate regions D.L. Mokma1 and P. Buurman2 CENTRALE LANDBOUWCATALOGUS 0000 0006 7161 1 Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 2 Department of Soil Science and Geology, Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands International Soil Museum - Wageningen - The Netherlands bN •'. K'ijH CIP-gegevens Mokma,D.L . Podzols andpodzolizatio n intemperat e regions/D.L .Mokm aan dP .Buurman . Wageningen: International SoilMuseum . - 111.- (ISMmonograph ;1 ) Metlit .opg . ISBN90-6672-011- 5 SISO631. 2UD C631. 4 Trefw.:Bodemkunde . Correctcitation : Mokma,D.L . andP .Buurma n (1982). Podzolsan dpodzolizatio n intemperat eregions . ISMmonograp h1 ,Int .Soi lMuseum ,Wageningen ,12 6pp . ISBN90-6672-011- 5 Foreword This is the first of an envisaged serieso f ISMMonograph st ob epu ­ blishedb yth e International SoilMuseu m inadditio nt oth eserie sappearin g under the name 'SoilMonolit h Papers'.Whil e a Soil MonolithPape rdeal s specifically with a soil unit of theFAO-Unesc o SoilLegend ,base do non e representative example inth e ISMsoi lmonolit hcollection ,th ene wserie s isope nfo ra wide rrang eo fsubject si nsoi lscience .I nparticula r itma y describe the results of studies in soil genesis and classification,soi l analysisan dlan devaluatio no fa majo rgrou po fsoils .Th egenera l aimi st o strengthenth estat eo fknowledg eo nth eworld' s soilresources ,fo rapplica ­ tioni nth efiel do flan dmanagemen tan dagro-technolog ytransfer . The presentpape r isth eresul to fa comparativ estud yo nth echarac ­ teristics,genesi san danalysi so fa majo rgrou po fsimila rsoils ,th epod ­ zols,wit hth eai mt odefin eclassificatio n criteriao funiversa lvalidity . This study has beenconducte d inth eframewor ko fth eIS Msoi lcorrelatio n programme by avisitin g scientist fromMichiga n StateUniversit y (USA)an d a staffmembe ro fth eAgricultura lUniversit y ofWageningen . ISMappreciate s anycommen to nit spublication s andan ysuggestio nfo r researchneeds .Individua l soilscientist s arewelcom et ojoi nIS Ma sgues t researcher,t oprepar eeithe ra Soi lMonograp ho ra Soi lMonolit hPaper . Wageningen,Jul y198 2 W.G.Sombroe k Director Contents Foreword 1 Introduction 1 2 Podzolan dspodoso lconcept s 1 3 Environmental settingo fpodzol s 3 4 Thepodzolizatio nproces s 4 5 Extractionso fC ,F ean dA lrelativ et oth epodzolizatio nproces s 8 5.1 Organiccarbo n 8 5.2 Ironan daluminu m 10 6 Presentcriteri afo rspodi co rpodzo lB horizon s 12 6.1 USSR 12 6.2 FederalRepubli co fGerman y 12 6.3 Netherlands 13 6.4 Englandan dWale s 14 6.5 Canada 16 6.6 France 17 6.7 Australia 19 6.8 NewZealan d 19 6.9 UnitedState s 19 6.10 FAO-Unesco 22 7 Methods 23 8 Materials 25 8.1 USSRpodzo lmonolith s 25 9 Resultsan ddiscussio n 28 9.1 Particle sizedistributio n 28 9.2 Carbonan dsesquioxide s 28 9.2.1 Carbon/aluminum ratios 29 9.2.2 Carbon/ironratio s 34 9.2.3 Carbon/sesquioxide ratios 35 9.2.4 Discussioncarbon/meta lratio s 40 9.3 CEC-organic carbonrelation s 44 9.4 Imogolite 46 9.5 Ironconten tan dcolo rafte rignitio n 47 9.6 Spodichorizo ncriteri a 50 10Conclusion s 57 11Acknowledgement s 58 12Reference s 59 Listo ftable s Table 1 Soilprofile s inthi sstud yan dth emethod suse dfo r theirCE Can dorgani c Cdeterminatio n 24 Table2 Meanan dstandar ddeviatio no fAI , Fean dC extraction s fromth ereferenc esampl e (Becketsoi lserie sB21ir ) 24 Table3 Classificationo fth esoil sinvestigate d 27 Table4 Carbon/aluminum atomicratio s forseparatin geluvia lan d illuvialhorizon s inOrthic/Humi can dGleyi cPodzol s 43 Table5 Linearregressio nan dcorrelatio nbetwee nC andC , andC . andC , 43 t n Table6 Linearregressio nan dcorrelatio nbetwee nCEC ._ an d carboncontent s 43 Table 7 Numericalvalue s assigned toMunsel lcolo rcode s 48 Table8 Selectedpropertie s andclassificatio no fDutch , Belgianan dSwis ssoil s 51 Table9 Selectedpropertie s andclassificatio n ofsoil si nth e monolithcollectio no fth e International SoilMuseu m 52 Table1 0Selecte dpropertie s andclassificatio n ofsoil s described inliteratur e 54 Listo ftex tfigure s Figure1 . C/Alratio so fOrthi c andHumi cPodzol s 30 Figure2 . C/Al ratioso fGleyi cPodzol s 31 Figure3 . C^/Alratio so fOrthi c andHumi cPodzol s 32 Figure4 . C./hl ratioso fGleyi cPodzol s 33 Figure 5. C/Fe ratioso fOrthic/Humi c andGleyi cPodzol s 36 Figure6 . C/Ses ratioso fOrthi c andHumi cPodzol s 37 Figure7 . C/Ses ratioso fGleyi cPodzol s 38 Figure8 . Depthfunction so fCE C ...an dCEC .. 39 soil 8.2 Figure9 . Regressiono fCEC - _wit hC foral lsample s 45 o. z. p Figure 10.Colo rafte rignitio nan dFe ,conten to fOrthic/Humi c andGleyi cPodzol s 49 Appendix 1. Descriptionso fth eprofile s fromth eNetherlands , Belgium andUS A 66 Appendix2 .Description so fth eRussia nprofile s 78 Appendix3 .Particl esiz edistributio no fal lprofile san d moistcolo rprofile s 83 Appendix4 .Selecte dchemica lpropertie s and carbon/sesquioxide atomicratio s 4A.Profile s fromth eNetherlands ,Belgiu man d Switzerland 88 4B.Profile s inth e ISMcollectio n 92 Appendix 5.Selecte dchemica ldat a fromliteratur e andcarbon / sesquioxide atomicratio scalculate d fromth edat a 100 Appendix 6.Determinatio no fcarbo ni nsoil san dsoi lextract s (byA.J.M .va nOostru m andD.L .Mokma ) 116 Appendix 7.Not eo nth eplat e "Podzolsan drelate d soils" 126 Separateplate :Podzol san drelate dsoil s 1 Introduction Theter m 'podzol'whic horiginate d inRussi aha sbee nadopte d insevera l soilclassificatio nsystem san di sno wdefine d invariou sways .Th econcep t varies fromcountr yt ocountr yan dwit htim ei na singl ecountry . Severalprocesse spla y arol ei nth eformatio no fpodzols .Insigh tint o theprocesse s involved haschange dwit htime ,dependin go nth ekin do fin ­ formationgathered .Variatio n inth einformatio ncollecte dha sdepended ,a t leastpartially ,o nchange si nth epodzo lconcept . Themos t important featureo fPodzol so rSpodosol s isth epresenc eo f a horizon with an accumulation of amorphous organic matter andaluminum , with or without iron.Therefore ,criteri a fora podzo lB horizo no rspodi c horizonhav ebee nbased ,a tleas tpartially ,o nth eamount so forgani ccar ­ bon,A lan dF eextracte db yspecifi c solutions fromthes ehorizons . The objectives of this study were to1 .revie wth eliteratur e onth e Podzols and Spodosols,th ecriteri a forclassifyin gPodzol s andSpodosols , andth eprocesse s involved inpodzolization ;2 .stud yth eprocesse so fpod - zolization inprofile s collected for thispurpos e in the Netherlandsan d Belgium ando nothe rprofile sexistin gi nth eInternationa l SoilMuseu mcol ­ lection and 3. develop new chemical criteria for classifying Podzolsan d Spodosols andcompar ethes ewit hexistin gcriteria . 2 Podzol and spodosol concepts The term 'podzol'wa s first applied byRussia nworker ssolel yt oth e bleachedhorizo ntha toccurre d ato rnea rth esurfac eo fsoil s (Muir,1961) . Itha s been generally assumed that 'podzol'wa s derived fromth eRussia n terms 'pod'meanin gunde ro rbeneat han d 'zol'o r 'zola'meanin g ashes.Ac ­ cordingt oMui r (1961),th eRussia nter m 'pod'shoul dhav eth esam emeanin g asth eGerma nter m 'Boden',th eGree kter m 'pedon',an dth eLati nter m 'peda'; therefore the term podzolmean sash ysoi l (infact ,th elati nwor d ispes , pi. pedes). Ponomareva (1964)assume d that theter m 'pod'originate d from the facttha tth egra yo rash ylaye ro fsoi li susuall y foundunde rsom eothe r layero rlayer so fsoi lmaterials .Fo ra summar yo fth ehistorica ldevelop ­ mento fth epodzo l conceptth ereade r isreferre dt oMui r (1961). Differences in the concept of apodzo l have persisted between soil scientists fromRussi a andWester nEurope .Podzol si nWester nEurop ewer e * Throughoutthi sreport ,whe nreferrin g toliterature ,origina lhorizo n designations and classification termsar emaintained ;otherwise ,hor ­ izondesignation s andclassificatio nterm so fFA O (1974;1977 )wil lb e used. restricted to sandy soilswhil eRussia npodzol s included clayey soilswit h clay illuviation. Early Western European soil scientists considered the translocationo fmaterial s fromth eeluvia lhorizo nt oth eilluvia lhorizo n tooccu r insolution .Thes e scientistswer ereluctan tt oaccep tth emechan ­ icaltranslocatio n ofcla ya spar to fth epodzolizatio nprocess . TheWester nEuropea nconcep to fpodzol s isreflecte d inth esoi lclassifica ­ tionsystem so fth evariou scountries .Thi sconcep twa scarrie dt oth eUnite d Statesb yMarbu t (Muir, 1961).Accordin gt oByer se tal . (1938)podzol sha d an illuvial horizon with an accumulation of humus, iron andaluminu man d occurred only on coarser textured parentmaterials .Thi sconcep treflect s theWester n European concept, a reddish-brown horizonbeneat h ableache d horizon,rathe rtha nth eRussia nconcept ,onl ya bleache dhorizon . Theorde rSpodoso l anddiagnosti c spodichorizo ni nth ene wsoi lclas ­ sification system.Soi lTaxonom y (SoilSurve y Staff, 1975), alsooriginate d in the WesternEuropea nconcep to fpodzols .I nth e7t hApproximatio n (Soil Survey Staff, 1960)an di nSoi lTaxonomy ,Spodosol swer eidentifie db yth e spodichorizo nan dno tth ealbi chorizon .Th espodi chorizo nwa sdefine da s anilluvia l accumulationo fsesquioxide s andorgani cmatter .Late rth espodi c horizonwa sdefine d ason ei nwhic hactiv e amorphousmaterials ,compose do f organic matter and aluminum with orwithou tiron ,hav eprecipitate d (Soil Survey Staff, 1975).Th eter m 'active'describe dmateria ltha tha dhig hca ­ tionexchang ecapacity ,larg esurfac e areaan dhig hwate rretention . Invirgi narea sth espodi chorizo nusuall y liesbelo w analbi chorizo n (whitish or grayish eluvial horizon).