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 I ...

(WRB) is very weakly developed mineral

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

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

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

and

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...

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 t ...

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

Entisols Entisols are soils, as defined under USDA soil taxonomy, that do not show any profile development other than an A-horizon (or “A” horizon). Entisols have no diagnostic horizons, and are unaltered from their parent material, which could ...

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 Soil classification, classification of soil types according to several parameters (most commonly their p ...

or Rudosols and possibly some Tenosols in the

Australian Soil Classification The Australian Soil Classification is the classification system currently used to describe and classify soils in Australia. It is a general-purpose, hierarchical classification Hierarchical classification is a system of grouping things accordin ...

. 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 (very shallow soils), Arenosols (sandy soils) or Fluvisols (in recent

alluvial Alluvium (, ) 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. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

deposits A deposit account is a bank account maintained by a financial institution in which a customer can deposit and withdraw money. Deposit accounts can be savings accounts, current accounts or any of several other types of accounts explained below. ...

). These soils have AC- profiles. Profile development is minimal as a consequence of young age and/or slow

soil formation Soil formation, also known as pedogenesis, is the process of soil genesis as regulated by the effects of place, environment, and history. Biogeochemical processes act to both create and destroy order ( anisotropy) within soils. These alteration ...

. Land use and management of Regosols vary widely. Some Regosols are used for capital-intensive

irrigated Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) 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 be ...

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

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 free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

. Regosols in mountain areas are best left under

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

. Regosols occur in all

climate zone Climate zones 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. The most used is the Köppen climate classification ...

s without

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

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 (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

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