GELISOLS PERMAFROST SOIL

Gelisols must: 1. Permafrost within 100 cm of the soil surface 2. Gelic materials within 100 cm of the soil surface and permafrost within 200 cm of the soil surface. 3. Must be frozen for at least two years.

Characteristics A dark organic layer with a mineral layer. These layers are usually mixed due to cyroturbation. Slow decomposition. Store large amounts of organic carbon. They can form in any parent material. There is no limitation in relief. Takes a long lime to form. Likely vegetation is lichens, mosses, and grasses.

Diagnostic horizons A typical diagnostic feature is permafrost. Argillic.

United States Gelisols Coverage

Gelisol Suborders cyroturbation- frost churning

Likely Gelisol Environments Found in high altitude or polar environments.

Global coverage of Gelisols

Entisols Soils Baby Soils

Entisols are soils of recent origin Entisols are soils of recent origin. The central concept is soils developed in unconsolidated parent material with usually no genetic horizons except an A horizon. All soils that do not fit into one of the other 11 orders are Entisols. Thus, they are characterized by great diversity, both in environmental setting and land use. Many Entisols are found in steep, rocky settings. However, Entisols of large river valleys and associated shore deposits provide cropland and habitat for millions of people worldwide. Entisols are defined as soils that do not show any profile development other than an A horizon. An entisol has no diagnostic horizons, and most are basically unaltered from their parent material, which can be unconsolidated sediment or rock Globally Entisols are the most extensive of the soil orders, occupying ~18% of the Earth's ice-free land area. In the US, Entisols occupy ~12.3% of the land area.

Reasons for Entisols Unweatherable parent materials sandiron oxide, aluminum oxide, kaolinite clay. Erosion - common on shoulder slopes; other kinds also important. Deposition - continuous, repeated deposition of new parent materials by water, wind, colluvium, mudflows, other means. Flooding or saturation. Cold climate - must not be sufficiently cold in winter for permafrost. Dry climate. Shallow to bedrock - may be rock resistant to weathering, such as quartzite or ironstone. Toxic parent materials – serpentine soils, mine spoils, sulfidic clays

Enttisols are Divided into 6 suborders Wassents - are submerged for more than 21 hours every day Aquents – have a water table at or near the surface for much of the year formed on river banks, tidal mudflats etc. Here, general wetness limits development Arents - have been disturbed and contain fragments of diagnostic horizons that are not arranged in any discernible order diagnostic horizons cannot develop because of deep mixing through plowing, spading, or other methods of moving by humans.

Psamments - very sandy layers where development is precluded by the impossibility of weathering the sand. Formed from shifting or glacial sand dunes. Orthents - common Entisols that don't meet criteria of other suborders Found on recent erosional surfaces or very old landforms completely devoid of weatherable minerals.

Distribution of Entisol Subgroups in the USA

Suborder Diagram

Udipsamment landscape northern Michigan This glacial outwash plain in northern Michigan is dominated by sandy soils. Mean annual precipitation is ~30" (760 mm). Low fertility is a severe limitation to use of these soils. Native vegetation consists of Jack Pine, white oak, and scrub oak. Where cleared, successful agricultural production requires lime and fertilizer inputs.

Typic Udipsamment This soil occurs in glacial outwash on outwash plains in northern Michigan. The B horizon has a slight accumulation of illuvial sesquioxides and thin coatings of illuvial organic matter, but not sufficient quantities to qualify as a Spodosol. The sand textures also prevent the Bw horizon from qualifying as a cambic diagnostic horizon in Soil Taxonomy..

Inceptisols

General Inceptum - Latin for 'beginning' Min. horizon development aka 'Teenage' soils Min. horizon development Support 20% of world population

General Location Characteristics Humid & subhumid climate NOT arid Fairly steep slopes Young geomorphic features Resistant parent materials Low temp./ low precip. Most develop under forests

Diagnostic Horizons Shallow solum Few horizons: AC, AR, ABC Orchic or umbric horizon Histic horizon where poorly drained Some plaggen Cambic subsurface horizon No spodic, argillic, kandic, natric, or oxic horizon

Northern Michigan

West Virginia

Processes Slow weathering High erosion Colluvium formation Poorly drained areas= RMF's & high bases

Central Idaho

Central Idaho

Bibliography Cooper, Terry. Unit 5, Chap. 3 The Soil Suborders of Minnesota. http://www.swac.umn.edu/classes/soil2125/doc/s5chp3.htm Grunwald, Sabine. Soil & Water Science Department. Inceptisols. http://soils.ifas.ufl.edu/faculty/grunwald/teaching/eSoilScience/incep tisolss.shtml McDaniel, Paul. The Twelve Soil Orders. University of Idaho, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/inceptisols.ht National Resources Conservation Services. Inceptisols. http://soils.usda.gov/technical/classification/orders/inceptisols.html

Andrew Ruona & Nick Deutsch Oxisols & Mollisols Andrew Ruona & Nick Deutsch

Oxisols Oxisols (From French oxide, "oxide.") Oxisols are highly weathered soils of tropical and subtropical regions. They are dominated by low activity minerals, such as quartz, kaolinite, and iron oxides. Tend to have indistinct horizons. Kaolinite: Clay mineral

Oxisols 7.5% of the global ice-free land area. In the US, they only occupy .02% of the land area and are restricted to Hawaii

Oxisols Characteristics: - Soil formation * Weathering * Humification - Always Red, or yellowish due to high concentration of Iron & Aluminum Oxides. Contain: 1:1 type clays, quartz, Kaolin and other OM. Kaolin: Clay mineral which is a part of the industrial minerals. Humifaction: addition of Humus

Diagnostic Horizon Ochric epipedon: - Wimpy A - Paler Chroma >3.5 Value >3.5 - Low OM - Hard, massive when dry

Oxisol Oxic Horizon: - Tropical Horizons - Highly weathered layer of only Fe and Al oxides and 1:1 clay minerals - Low Ph (Acidic) - Low fertility Subsurface diagnostic horizon?

Processes Hydrolysis, hydration, dissolution, oxidation, leaching, desilication, and acidification are very common in Oxisol soils. This means that the soils contain few weatherable minerals, low pH, deep profiles and high levels of Al.

Oxisol Typical environments: - Tropical and subtropical regions - Best known for occurrence in the tropical rain forest - 15 to 25 degrees north and south of the Equator

Mollisols - Derived from Latin "mollis", soft - Soils of grassland ecosystems - Mollisols occur in the middle latitudes, and are extensive prairie regions

Characteristics of Mollisols Thick, Dark surface horizons A horizon ~60 - 80 cm High in mineral concentrations Formation due to: Long-term additions of organic matter Decomposition, Humification Mollisols are very productive soils and used heavily for agriculture throughout the world (economically important) Developed from calcareous parent material Globally the occupy 7% of ice free land area In US, Mollisols are the most extensive soil order, they cover about 21.5% of the land area

Global Distribution of Mollisols

Distribution of Mollisols in US

Mollisols in the Great State of Minnesota

Typical environments of Mollisols Mollisols develop in Subhumid to Semiarid climates 30 - 55 degrees N and S Large range in temperatures 10 inches of rain to 32 inches of rain Winters very cold, Summer are warm to hot

Diagnostic Horizon Nearly all Mollisols have a Mollic Epipedon Soft Thick (>18 cm) Dark (Chroma <3.5) > 1% Organic Material Grasslands Strong Structure 50% Base Saturation May also have Argillic, Natric, or Calcic horizons

More pictures

Alfisols & Ultisols

Characteristics Alfisols Ultisols Fertile forest soils Ochric and argillic - low Ochric and Argillic base saturation <35% Saturation >35% 8.5% of world land 7% of the world 0% MN cover 27% MN cover 9.2% US land cover 14% US land cover

Characteristics Alfisols Ultisols -Moderately leached soils that have -strongly leached, acid forest soils Relatively high native fertility with relatively low native fertility -Mainly formed under forest and have - found in humid temperate and Subsurface horizon in which clays tropical areas Have accumulated - much Ca, Mg, and K has been -Found in temperate, humid and leached from soil Subhumid regions - 8.1% global ice free land cover -10.1% global ice free land cover - forest soils of warm regions -Hardwood forests

Suborders Alfisols Ultisols Alf= from pedalfer (1938) Ult= Last “latin orgin” Aqualfs= water Aquults= water Cryalfs= cold Humults= humis Ustalfs= semi arid/humid Udults= humid Xeralfs= dry summer moist Ustults= semi arid/humid Winter Xerults= dry summer moist Udalfs= Humid winter

Suborders Alfisols Ultisols

Global distributions Dominant in Ohio river basin, southern/ Western Europe, Baltic region, drier Parts of peninsular India, Sudan, and Much of south America Dominant in south eastern United States, South America, and China.

Latitudinal soil distribution

US distribution Alfisols distribution Ultisols distribution

Minnesota soils No Ultisols present in Minnesota to date

Soil Horizons

Formation processes Alfisols Ultisols Include O, A, E, B include A, E, Bt Mineral soil Mineral soil Older than Alfisols

Alfisol

Ultisol

Andisols Formed in Volcanic Ash High content of volcanic glass Soils with more than 60% volcanic material Dominated by short-range-order minerals Relatively young soil

Low Bulk Density Moderately rapid permeability Very high Nutrient-holding and water-holding capacity High Phosphorus fixation Usually very fertile (except in cases where Phosphorus is easily fixed, making it unavailable to plants – Tropics)

Exist in all climatic regions, especially cool areas with high precipitation Soil distribution roughly follows the geographic distribution of Volcanoes Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ Rift Valley (Africa) Volcanic regions of Mediterranean countries Hawaii

Globally, andisols are the least extensive soil order Account for less than 1% of ice-free land area on Earth

Occupy about 1.7% of land area in the U.S. None in MN Mostly in the Pacific NW, where andisols supports very productive forests

Can occupy any position on the landscape, and can occur at any elevation Usually have a dark A- horizon

Sources http://www.cals.uidaho.edu/soilorders/andis ols.htm http://soils.ifas.ufl.edu/faculty/grunwald/tea ching/eSoilScience/andisols.shtml http://soils.usda.gov/technical/classification /orders/andisols.html

Vertisols

Definition Vertisols (verto, “to turn”) are clay-rich soils that shrink and swell with changes in moisture content. Soil volume shrinks with decreasing moisture and expands with increasing moisture. Shrink/swell causes engineering problems and generally leads to indistinct horizons.

Global Distribution

Vertisols occupy 2% of the U.S.

Suborders Aquerts: Vertisols with a water table at or near the surface for much of the year Cryerts: Vertisols of cold climates Xererts: Temperate vertisols with very dry summers and moist winters. Torrerts: Vertisols of dry climates. Usterts: Vertisols of semiarid and subhumid climates. Uderts: Vertisols of humid climates.

Suborder Distribution

Horizons Very deep A horizon Rarely B (due to mixing), usually A/C Often an Ap layer. The B horizon will also often have a Bss layer

Ap- Bss- 2C-

SPODOSOLS spodos: ash Cool, humid, needeleaf forests or sand in humid climates acidic low in nutrients albic and spodic horizons

Podzolization process Cool, moist climate low temps inhibit decomposition needle litter : slightly acidic, slow to decompose acidic soil solution (lots of leaching) removes base cations ALBIC surface horizon which is ash- colored; coarse; all but Si has been removed these materials accumulate in the SPODIC HORIZON

SPODOSOL = ALBIC + SPODIC

Humic cryorthod (albic at 10 cm)

Kalkaska, Michigan State Soil

ARIDISOLS aridos: dry not enough moisture to carry soluble materials out of profile layers of accumulated calcium carbonate or gypsum or soluble salts or sodium can be fertile if managed

ARIDISOLS = OCHRIC + CAMBIC, ARGILLIC, SALIC, GYPSIC, NATRIC, CALCIC

Casa Grande, Arizona State Soil

The End