Marcel

Describing and
interpreting
to soils where
bananas grows
By Marcel Barbier
May 1, 2012
1 Homestead, FL
Tiquisate, GUA
2
Soil 1
Tropical Research and Education Center
18905 S.W. 280 Street, Homestead, FL 33031
Image altitude: 645 miles
Soil 1
Tropical Research and Education Center
18905 S.W. 280 Street, Homestead, FL 33031
Image altitude: 50 miles
Soil 1
Tropical Research and Education Center
18905 S.W. 280 Street, Homestead, FL 33031
Image altitude: 3025 ft
Soil 1
Tropical Research and Education Center
18905 S.W. 280 Street, Homestead, FL 33031
Image altitude: Ground level
The soil sampled is located at the
Tropical Research and Education Center located at 18905 S.W. 280
Street, Homestead, FL 33031
Image altitude: Underground level
The soil sampled is located at the
Tropical Research and Education Center located at 18905 S.W. 280
Street, Homestead, FL 33031
Image altitude: Underground level
Florida
Soil taxonomy
• Florida has six
different soil
orders.
• The 1st soil
described is
classified under
the Entisol order
Image source:
http://soils.ifas.ufl.edu/faculty/grunwald/research/projects/NRC_2001/NRC.shtml
Krome series
• According to the Soil Survey of
Dade County Area, the soils of
the Krome series are loamyskeletal, carbonatic, hyperthemic
Lithic Udorthents.
Ap
0 - 7”
• This soils are very shallow,
moderately well drained,
moderately permeable and are
underlain by a limestone bedrock.
• They formed through scarification
of oolitic limestone outcrops and
the loamy residuum that partially
covers the limestone and fills the
many cavities or solution holes.
Dark brown (10 YR 3/3)
very gravelly loam,
brown (10 YR 5/3) dry;
weak medium granular
structure; very friable;
about 40 percent, by
volume, hard limestone
fragments 3 inches or
less in diameter;
strongly effervescent;
mildly alkaline; abrupt
irregular boundary.
R
7 to 60”
hard, porous,
oolitic, limestone
>60”
Parent material
Surface layer root
zone
A
7.5 cm.
C1
5.0 cm
7.5 cm
C2
150 cm
Hard porous limestone bedrock
with solutions hole layer.
Cr
R
Matrix
sl
sg
ma
N
N
N
N
C1
5
Abrupt
Smooth
Sand
65
7.5YR
2.5/2
wk
gr
fr
N
N
Y
N
C2
7.5
Abrupt
Smooth
Clay
loam
15
10YR
2/3
sl
sg
ma
N
N
N
N
Abrupt
Wavy
Sandy
loam
7.5YR
3/4
wk
sg
l
Y
N
N
N
Wavy
Limestone
7.5YR
7/4
st
sbk
vfi
Y
Y
N
N
Cr
50
R
Abrubt
100
Cutans
Deplet.
10YR
2/1
Redox
Concentration
15
Consist Moist.
Clay
loam
Shape
Smooth
Grade
Topography
Abrupt
Dominant Color
Distinctness
(thickness)
7.5
Coarse Frag %
Lower Depth (cm.)
A
Texture
Horizon
Soil 1 description
• Soil Properties and Interpretations
– High Infiltration rate
– Very Low Available Water
– Severe Limitations for Basements, Septic Tank Adsorption Fields
and Streets
– High Hydraulic Conductivity
– Seasonal High Water Table within 25 cm. of soil surface,
limestone has redoximorphic concentrations at shallow depths.
• Site Characteristics
–
–
–
–
–
Position: Upland
Parent Material: Marine
Slope: Nearly Level
Surface Runoff: Very Slow
Erosion Potential: Medium
• Soil classification
– Epipedon: Ochric
– Order: Entisol
– Subsurface Horizon: None
1 Homestead, FL
Tiquisate, GUA
2
Soil 2
Finca Primavera
Tiquisate , Escuintla, Guatemala
Image altitude: 645 miles
Soil 2
Finca Primavera
Tiquisate , Escuintla, Guatemala
Image altitude: 50 miles
Soil 2
Finca Primavera
Tiquisate , Escuintla, Guatemala
Image altitude: 3025 ft
Soil 2
Finca Primavera
Tiquisate , Escuintla, Guatemala
Image altitude: Ground level
Soil 2
Finca Primavera
Tiquisate , Escuintla, Guatemala
Image altitude: Ground level
Soil 2
Finca Primavera
Tiquisate , Escuintla, Guatemala
Image altitude: Underground level
Guatemala
Soil taxonomy
• Guatemala has seven
different soil orders.
• The 2nd soil
described is
classified under the
Mollisols order
Source:
Ministerio de Agricultura
Ganaderia y Alimentacion
Tiquisate series
• The unique properties of
Mollisols are a
combination of a very
dark brown to black
surface horizon (mollic
epipedon)
• Udolls are formed under
udic soil moisture regime
in continental climates of
the temperate and
tropical regions.
Coarse Frag %
Dominant Color
Grade
Shape
Consist Moist.
Redox Concentration
Texture
Topography
Distinctness
(thickness)
Lower Depth in cm.
Horizon
Oa
10
7.5 YR
4/1
W
K
GR
L
N
Oa
25
Abrupt
Smooth
Mucky
siltloam
Ap
40
Clear
Smooth
Silt
loam
5
7.5YR
3/1
M
O
GR
FR
N
Ab
50
Abrupt
Smooth
Loam
3
7.5YR
2.5/1
ST
MA
FI
N
Bg1
60
Abrupt
Wavy
Clay
loam
5
10YR
3/1
ST
SBK
FI
N
Wavy
Sandy
clay
loam
5
10 YR
4/3
ST
SBK
VFI
N
Bg2
200
Abrupt
Ap
Ab
Bg1
Bg2
• Soil Properties and Interpretations
– Moderate Infiltration rate
– High Available Water
– Low Limitations for Basements, Septic Tank Adsorption Fields
and Streets
– High Hydraulic Conductivity
– 25 cm of seasonal High Water Table Depth
• Site Characteristics
–
–
–
–
–
Position: Upland
Parent Material: Sedimentary rock
Slope: Nearly Level
Surface Runoff: Slow
Erosion Potential: Medium
• Soil classification
– Epipedon: Mollic
– Order: Mollisol-Udolls
– Subsurface Horizon: None
Homestead, FL
Tiquisate, GUA
Infiltration rate
High
Moderate
Available Water
Very low
High
Limitations for Basements, Septic Tank
Adsorption Fields and Streets
Severe
Low
Hydraulic Conductivity
High
High
Seasonal High Water Table Depth
25 cm
25 cm
Position:
Upland
Upland
Parent Material:
Marine
Sedimentary rock
Slope:
Nearly level
Nearly Level
Surface Runoff:
Very slow
Slow
Erosion Potential:
Medium
Medium
Epipedon:
Ochric
Mollic
Order:
Entisol
Mollisol-Udolls
Subsurface Horizon:
None
None
Questions?
• Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or
eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The
greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.
Henry Ford (1863-1947)
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knowledge is limited to all we now know and
understand, while imagination embraces the entire
world, and all there ever will be to know and
understand.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)