 Found in tropical and subtropical regions  Areas with high temps and abundant precipitation  Climate causes high amounts of weathering  Results  Soil low in nutrients  Bright red/orange color … caused by the Fe and AL oxides

 Oxisols cover 7.5% of the Earth’s ice free land surface.  Primarily in the southern hemisphere  Majority in South America  Significant amounts of oxisols are also found in central Africa

Oxisols are not found in the continental U.S. in any abundance. Only 0.02% of the U.S. has oxisols Most oxisols are found in Hawaii. (not the big island)

 Very fine texture.  High amounts of bioturbation (lots of animal activity)  Ap - shows topsoil with plowing  Bo1- subsoil with organic material  Bo2- subsoil with slightly different color  Oxisols are used for agriculture when fertilizers are added  Provide pineapple and sugarcane farming  Also support grazing and pasture lands for livestock.

 Picture from Nigeria (corn field)  Crops such as corn are rotated on a yearly basis  Farmlands are then burned to release nutrients back into the soil  After 5-10 years land Is re-established as forest

 Tropical areas with high elevation (over 1000M) contain more fertile Oxisols than lowlands.  These areas are used for low impact farming of peanuts, pineapple, and bananas.

 Oxisols are found in warm wet climates  They are generally infertile  Highly permeable  Very resistant to erosion  Their color comes from insoluble Fe and Al oxides