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The implementation of soil and water conservation structures in semiarid areas, usually poses a difficult design problem. This is, in large part, due to the high variability of rainfall and the huge potential impact of extreme hydrologic events on structures and on the landscape in general. Magnitudes of runoff and soil loss or sedimentation rates in those environments are better not assessed by conventional...
A comparison was made between soils on north- and south-facing slopes of six cinder cones in the Springerville volcanic field (SVF), Arizona, in order to determine the influence of slope aspect on soil weathering processes. Twenty-four soil pedons were sampled on different aspects of six cinder cones. To control for the influence of slope on pedogenesis, all sample sites possessed slopes of 17+/-2...
Soils conforming to Andosols in the World Reference Base (WRB) of Soil Resources have not yet been recognised in Germany. The aims of this study were to (i) show whether some German soils developed in volcanic parent materials are Andosols, (ii) investigate their pedogenetic development and (iii) determine their local distribution. We selected a soil on Quaternary basalt in the Eifel region (the ''Windsborn''...
Volcanic ash soils are usually associated within the weathering sequence glass->allophane->halloysite. On the eastern slopes of the volcano La Soufriere, Guadeloupe, this sequence occurs in a toposequence Molli-silicic Andosol-Humic Andosol-Haplic Andosol-Haplic Nitisol, where the average annual rainfall decreases from 4000 mm at 420 m a.s.l. to 2500 mm at 30 m a.s.l. Of this sequence, we selected...
Several selective dissolution methods were used to differentiate Al forms in 12 soils formed from volcanic materials (64 andic, vitric and organic horizons) in Iceland, Azores (Portugal), Tenerife (Spain) and Italy. The soils differ in many properties because of differences in parent materials, climatic conditions, soil age and history of land use. 'Inorganic' fractions of Al were characterized using...
The extensive soil erosion in Iceland during the past millennium has led to an irregular distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC). Intact and fully vegetated areas typically have Andosols with large amounts of organic carbon, whereas eroded areas are barren deserts with little organic carbon. We estimate the amount of organic carbon eroded during the past millennium is 120-500x10 6 t, whereas...
In France, andic soils mainly occur in the Massif Central (andic and other volcanic soils >5000 km 2 ), and on the Vosges and the Morvan Hercynian massifs. In the Massif Central, Silandosols on recent pyroclastics are distinguished from Aluandosols on older Mio-Pliocene lavas. After a brief introduction to the parent materials, soil characterisation, survey, genesis, properties and land...
Tepetates are common in the Mexican highlands, and are classified as fragipan, duripan, pedosediments or saprolite. A common feature is the abundance of clay coatings. Three pedons with red tepetate and grey tepetate were selected at different altitudes and slopes in a small watershed in Texcoco, Mexico. Physical, chemical, mineralogical and micromorphological analyses were carried out in soil, tepetate...
Water infiltration is an important hydrological process that influences runoff and soil loss patterns in mountain ecosystems. In this paper, we present results on spatial variation in infiltration in croplands on the volcanic soils of Mt. Elgon, in Eastern Uganda. Twelve experimental sites with slope gradients ranging from 12 to 32% were established. Infiltration tests were carried out with a double...
Charcoal fragments in soils are useful to reconstruct past vegetation because the level of preservation is often good enough to determine the tree genus. All forest ecosystems have the potential to burn as a result of naturally occurring or human-induced fires. Forest fires are coupled to climate and are a not-negligible factor of pedogenesis in Mediterranean areas, where they occur frequently. Furthermore,...
The existing information on soil carbon (C) stabilisation in allophanic soils is conflicting because active Al 3+ and sesquioxides (i.e., the oxides/hydroxides of Al and Fe) as a stabilising agent of soil C are emphasised in opposition to allophane and imogolite type materials. Two hypotheses were tested in this study: 1) Al (and Fe) complexed with soil C and allophane content are the key...
This paper deals with the mechanical properties of a number of pyroclastic soils derived from volcanic eruptions (pozzolan and pumice) in the Campanian region of central Italy. Although the analyzed samples come from the Phlegraean and Vesuvian areas, the conclusions and observations on their mechanical properties can be considered similar for most volcanic soils. The behavior of this kind of material...
Soil development was studied along a chronosequence in 2010 in a proglacial environment in SE-Iceland. We investigated morphological, physical, chemical and mineralogical changes in the soil representing over 120-year period. In total, 54 sampling sites were distributed along three moraines deposited in 1890, 1945 and 2003. For comparison, samples were collected from a nearby downy birch (Betula pubescens...
In Chile, significant amounts of native forests as well as pine and eucalyptus plantations are lost yearly as a result of forest fires. Besides the effect of high temperatures on the soil and destruction of the plant cover, the ashes originating from these fires end up spread out over the soil. The effects associated with the distribution of ash produced by burning of native forests, pine plantations,...
The concentrations of soil water-soluble elements (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, NH4+-N, NO3−-N, SO42−-S and P), pH and electrical conductivity (EC) were monitored over a 15-month period after a wildfire that burned nearly 7ha of high mountain broom scrubland in Tenerife (Canary Islands). The results showed that the mean values of soil pH, EC and basic cations were significantly higher three months after the wildfire...
Volcanic sediments are involved in both stratigraphic architecture and pedological environment of the impacted surfaces. Volcanic deposits are widespread in the southern Italian region of Campania, generating extensive tephrostratigraphic and pedological studies. Nevertheless, the pedogenetic effects of the distribution of volcanic sediments have not been fully investigated. The implications of tephra...
Volcanic soils are extremely productive thanks to their particular characteristics. Therefore, even though they represent <1% of the soils worldwide, they are very important for global and local agriculture, as they account for >60% of the arable land of Chile. However, studies evaluating their soil quality are still scarce. Subsequently, soil quality indicators have not yet been established...
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