Vertisol profile

In both the FAO and USA soil taxonomy, a vertisol is a soil in which there is a high content of expansive clay known as montmorillonite that forms deep cracks in drier seasons or years. Alternate shrinking and swelling causes self-mulching, where the soil material consistently mixes itself, causing vertisols to have an extremely deep A horizon and no B horizon. (A soil with no B horizon is called an A/C soil). This heaving of the underlying material to the surface often creates microrelief known as gilgai. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Possible meanings: Faro Airport (Portugal) Federation of Astrobiology Organizations Financial Aid Office Food and Agriculture Organization This page expands a three-character combination which might be any or all of: an abbreviation, an acronym, an initialism, a word in English, or a word in another language. ... Soil taxonomy provided by United States Department of Agriculture / Natural Resources Conservation Centre provides an elaborate classification of soil types according to several parameters and in several levels: Order, Suborder, Great Group, Subgroup, Family, and Series. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... A sample of montmorillonite Montmorillonite is a very soft phyllosilicate mineral that typically forms in microscopic crystals, forming a clay. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Soil horizon. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Soil horizon. ...

Vertisols typically form from highly basic rocks such as basalt in climates that are seasonally humid or subject to erratic droughts and floods. Depending on the parent material and the climate, they can range from grey or red to the more familiar deep black (known as black earths in Australia). Acids and bases: Acid-base extraction Acid-base reaction Acid dissociation constant Acidity function Buffer solutions pH Proton affinity Self-ionization of water Acids: Lewis acids Mineral acids Organic acids Strong acids Superacids Weak acids Bases: Lewis bases Organic bases Strong bases Superbases Non-nucleophilic bases Weak bases edit In... For the cities, see Basalt, Colorado and Basalt, Idaho. ... A drought is an extended period where water availability falls below the statistical requirements for a region. ... A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ...

Vertisols are found between 50° N and 45° S of the equator. Major areas where vertisols are dominant are eastern Australia (especially inland Queensland and New South Wales), the Deccan Plateau of India, southern Sudan, Ethiopia and adjacent Chad (the Gezira), and the lower Parana River in South America. Other areas where vertisols are dominant include southern Texas and adjacent Mexico, northeast Nigeria, Thrace, and parts of eastern China. World map showing the equator in red In tourist areas, the equator is often marked on the sides of roads The equator marked as it crosses Ilhéu das Rolas, in São Tomé and Príncipe. ... Slogan or Nickname: Sunshine State, Smart State Motto(s): Audax at Fidelis (Bold but Faithful) Other Australian states and territories Capital Brisbane Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Quentin Bryce Premier Anna Bligh (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 28  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $158,506 (3rd... “NSW” redirects here. ... Deccan Plateau // Main article: Geography of India So anyway,The Deccan Plateau (Marathi: डेक्कन), also known as The Great Country, is a vast elevated tableland area with widely varying terrain features making up the majority of the southern India located between three ranges and extending over eight states. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Official language(s) No official language See languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Largest metro area Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 261,797 sq mi (678,051 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak  Thrace (Bulgarian: , Greek: , Attic Greek: ThrāíkÄ“ or ThrēíkÄ“, Latin: , Turkish: ) is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. ...

In their natural state, vertisols are covered with grassland or grassy woodland. The heavy texture and unstable behaviour prevents forest from growing. The Konza tallgrass prairie in the Flint Hills of northeastern Kansas. ... Limber Pine woodland, Toiyabe Range, central Nevada Biologically, a woodland is a treed area differentiated from a forest. ... This article is about a community of trees. ...

The shrinking and swelling of vertisols can damage buildings and roads, leading to extensive subsidence. Vertisols are generally used for grazing of cattle or sheep. It is not unknown for livestock to be injured through falling into cracks in dry periods. However, the shrink-swell activity allows rapid recovery from compaction. For general information about the genus, including other species of cattle, see Bos. ... Species See text. ...

When irrigation is available, crops such as cotton, wheat, sorghum and rice can be grown. Vertisols are especially suitable for rice because they are almost impermeable when saturated. Rainfed farming is very difficult because vertisols can be worked only under a very narrow range of moisture conditions: they are very hard when dry and very sticky when wet. However, in Australia, vertisols are highly regarded, because they are the only soils that are not always acutely deficient in available phosphorus. Some, known as crusty vertisols, have a thin, hard crust when dry that can persist for 2 to 3 years before they have crumbled enough to permit seeding. Irrigation is the artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops. ... For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ... Species T. aestivum T. boeoticum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 Wheat Wheat For the indie rock group, see Wheat (band). ... Species About 30 species, see text Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, some of which are raised for grain and many of which are utilised as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. ... RICE is a treatment method for soft tissue injury which is an abbreviation for Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. ... General Name, symbol, number phosphorus, P, 15 Chemical series nonmetals Group, period, block 15, 3, p Appearance waxy white/ red/ black/ colorless Standard atomic weight 30. ...

In the USA soil taxonomy, vertisols are subdivided into:

• Aquerts: Vertisols which are subdued aquic conditions for some time in most years and show redoximorphic features are grouped as Aquerts. Because of the high clay content the permeability is slowed down and aquic conditions are likely to occur. In general, when precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration ponding may occur. Under wet soil moisture conditions iron and manganese is mobilized and reduced. The manganese may be partly responsible for the dark color of the soil profile.

• Cryerts (not classified as vertisols in the FAO classification): They have a cryic soil temperature regime. Cryerts are most extensive in the grassland and forest-grassland transitions zones of the Canadian Prairies and at similar latitudes in the Soviet Union.

• Xererts: They have a thermic, mesic, or frigid soil temperature regime. They show cracks that are open at least 60 consecutive days during the summer, but are closed at least 60 consecutive days during winter. Xererts are most extensive in the eastern Mediterranean and parts of California.

• Torrerts: They have cracks that are closed for less than 60 consecutive days when the soil temperature at 50 cm is above 8°C. These soils are not extensive in the U.S., and occur mostly in west Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and South Dakota, but are the most extensive suborder of Vertisols in Australia.

• Usterts: They have cracks that are open for at least 90 cumulative days per year. Globally, this suborder is the most extensive of the Vertisols order, encompassing the Vertisols of the tropics and monsoonal climates in Australia, India, and Africa. In the U.S. the Usterts are common in Texas, Montana, Hawaii, and California.

• Uderts: They have cracks that are open less than 90 cumulative days per year and less than 60 consecutive days during the summer. In some areas, cracks open only in drought years. Uderts are of small extent globally, being most abundant in Uruguay and eastern Argentina, but also found in parts of Queensland and the "Black Belt" of Mississippi and Alabama.

Slogan or Nickname: Sunshine State, Smart State Motto(s): Audax at Fidelis (Bold but Faithful) Other Australian states and territories Capital Brisbane Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Quentin Bryce Premier Anna Bligh (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 28  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $158,506 (3rd... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ...

References

• Vertisols. USDA-NRCS. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.
• Vertisols. University of Florida. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.
• Vertisols. University of Idaho. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year (135th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Pedogenesis
• Pedology (soil study)
• Soil classification