Humi-Cumulicalcaric Regosol May Addi Abagie Ethiopia

A Regosol in the

World Reference Base for Soil Resources The World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is an international soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps. The currently valid version is the fourth edition 2022. It is edited by a working group of the In ...

(WRB) is very weakly developed mineral

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...

in unconsolidated materials. Regosols are extensive in eroding lands, in particular in

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...

and

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

areas and in

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

regions. Internationally, Regosols correlate with soil taxa that are marked by incipient soil formation such as

Entisols Entisols are soils defined in USDA soil taxonomy 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 s ...

in the

USDA soil taxonomy USDA soil taxonomy (ST) developed by the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Cooperative Soil Survey provides an elaborate classification of soil types according to several parameters (most commonly their properties) and in ...

or Rudosols and possibly some Tenosols in the Australian Soil Classification. The group of Regosols is a taxonomic rest group containing all soils that could not be accommodated in any of the other groups. Excluded from the Regosols are weakly developed soils that classify as

Leptosols A Leptosol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a very shallow soil over hard rock or a deeper soil that is extremely gravelly and/or stony. Leptosols cover approximately 1.7 billion hectares of the Earth's surface. They are ...

(very shallow soils),

Arenosols In USDA soil taxonomy, a Psamment is defined as an Entisol which consists basically of unconsolidated sand deposits,Fluvisols (in recent

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. ...

deposits). These soils have AC- profiles. Profile development is minimal as a consequence of young age and/or slow soil formation. Land use and management of Regosols vary widely. Some Regosols are used for capital-intensive

irrigated Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been develo ...

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

but the most common land use is low volume

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and ot ...

. Regosols in mountain areas are best left under

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. Regosols occur in all

climate zone Climate classifications are systems that categorize the world's climates. A climate classification may correlate closely with a biome classification, as climate is a major influence on life in a region. One of the most used is the Köppen climate ...

s without

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

and at all elevations. Regosols are particularly common in arid areas, in the dry tropics and in mountain regions. Regosols cover an estimated 260 million hectares worldwide, mainly in arid areas in the mid-western United States,

Northern Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

, the

Near East The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...

and Australia. Some 50 million hectares of Regosols occur in the wet/dry tropics, most especially in northern Australia, and another 36 million hectares in mountain areas.

References

External links

profile photos (with classification)
WRB homepage
profile photos (with classification)
IUSS World of Soils {{Soil type Pedology Types of soil

See also

References

Further reading

External links