Soil Order Flashcards
Entisol
Ent
Recent
Very young soil showing very limited profile or lack of significant profile development
Vertisol
Ert
Latin = verto, turn
-invert
-shows large cracks upon drying due to dominance of montmorillonite
Inceptisol
Ept
Latin = inceptum, beginning
-Inception
- a young soil with moderate profile development
Aridisol
Id
Latin = aridus, dy
-arid
- limited change in parent material due to dryness
Mollisol
Oll
Latin = mollis, soft
- mollify
- dark surface due to high organic matter. This order includes some of the world’s most important agricultural soil
Spodosol
Od
Greek = spodos, wood ash
- podzol;odd
- subsoil has accumulation of fe and Al oxides, humus and amorphous clays
Alfisol
Alf
- pedalfer
- argillic B horizom with high base saturation
Ultisol
Ult
Latin = ultimus, last
- ultimate
- the B horizom has high amounts of clay but low base saturation
Oxisol
Ox
F. Oxide, oxide
- highly weathered soil with B horizon containing mainly 1:1 (kaolinite) clay
Histosol
Ists
Greek=histos, tissue
- Includes the organic soil have developed in a water-saturated environment