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Aridisols (or desert soils) are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. [1] Aridisols (from the Latin aridus, for "dry", and solum) form in an arid or semi-arid climate. Aridisols dominate the deserts and xeric shrublands, which occupy about one third of the Earth's land surface. Aridisols have a very low concentration of organic matter, reflecting ...
Like arid deserts, temperatures can vary greatly in semi deserts. They share some characteristics of a true desert and are usually located at the edge of deserts and continental dry areas. They usually receive precipitation from 250 to 500 mm (9.8 to 19.7 in) but this can vary due to evapotranspiration and soil nutrition.
Layers vary from a few inches to feet thick, and multiple layers can exist in a single location. A caliche layer in a soil profile is sometimes called a K horizon. [2] [3] In northern Chile and Peru, caliche also refers to mineral deposits that include nitrate salts. [4] [5] Caliche can also refer to various claylike deposits in Mexico and ...
Calcisol. A Calcisol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) [1] is a soil with a substantial secondary accumulation of lime. Calcisols are common in calcareous parent materials and widespread in arid and semi-arid environments. Formerly Calcisols were internationally known as Desert soils and Takyrs .
The physical properties of soil, in order of decreasing importance for ecosystem services such as crop production, are texture, structure, bulk density, porosity, consistency, temperature, colour and resistivity. [1] Soil texture is determined by the relative proportion of the three kinds of soil mineral particles, called soil separates: sand ...
Most major kinds of mineral deposits formed by groundwater are located in the deserts. For example, some valuable metallic minerals, such as gold, silver, iron, zinc, and uranium, are found in Western Desert in Australia. This is due to special geological processes, and climate factors in the desert can preserve and enhance mineral deposits. [11]
Gray or blue. Soil in anaerobic, saturated environments may appear gray or blue in color due to the redox reduction and/or depletion of iron. In an anaerobic soils, microbes reduce iron from the ferric (Fe 3+) to the ferrous (Fe 2+) form. Manganese may also be reduced from the manganic (Mn 4+) to the manganous (Mn 2+) form, though iron ...
Alfisol. Alfisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy. Alfisols form in semi-arid to humid areas, typically under a hardwood forest cover. They have a clay-enriched subsoil and relatively high native fertility. "Alf" refers to aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe). Because of their productivity and abundance, Alfisols represent one of the more ...