What is the meaning of Vertisols?
A vertisol, or vertosol, is a soil type in which there is a high content of expansive clay minerals, many of them known as montmorillonite, that form deep cracks in drier seasons or years.
What are Vertisols used for?
Vertisols are clay-rich soils that undergo significant vertical cracking during the dry seasons. Typically forming under grassland vegetation in basin or rolling hill landscapes, they are best suited for use as pastureland and for the cultivation of plants, such as rice, that thrive in standing surface water.
What are the characteristics of Vertisols?
Vertisols are characterized by a clay-size-particle content of 30 percent or more by mass in all horizons (layers) of the upper half-metre of the soil profile, by cracks at least 1 cm (0.4 inch) wide extending downward from the land surface, and by evidence of strong vertical mixing of the soil particles over many …
How is Vertisols formed?
Vertisols develop when a combination of several processes/factors take place—enough rain that leads to the weathering of primary rock-forming minerals but without their outwash outside the profile; weathering leads to the crystallization of new clay minerals; impeded drainage, hindering the leaching of weathering …
Are Vertisols good for farming?
Vertisols are productive soils if properly managed. Vertisols cover 335 million hectares worldwide. An estimated 150 million hectares is potential crop- land. Vertisols in the tropics cover some 200 million hectares; a quarter of this is considered to be useful land.
Are Vertisols well drained?
1 They will be referred to as Vertisols in this paper. They have a low hydraulic conductivity and are often imperfectly drained.
What type of soil is Vertisols?
clayey soils
Vertisols are are clayey soils that have deep, wide cracks for some time during the year. They shrink as they dry and swell as they become moist. The natural vegetation is predominantly grass, savanna, open forest, or desert shrub.
Where are Vertisols located?
Vertisols are most commonly formed in warm, subhumid or semi-arid climates, where the natural vegetation is predominantly grass, savanna, open forest, or desert shrub. Large areas of Vertisols are found in Northeastern Africa, India, and Australia , with smaller areas scattered worldwide.
Which soil is called Vertisols?
Vertisols (from Latin verto, “turn”) are clay-rich soils that shrink and swell with changes in moisture content. During dry periods, the soil volume shrinks and deep wide cracks form. The soil volume then expands as it wets up.
Are Vertisols fertile?
Besides, the productivity of some soils is constrained by some other limiting factors even though they have high potential productivity or are naturally fertile. Generally, Vertisols have high montmorillonite clay known for its shrink-swell properties in response to changes in soil moisture content.
Where are vertisols found?
What is a Vertisol?
Vertisols are clayey soils, which have deep, wide cracks on some occasions during the year and slickensides within 100 cm of the soil surface. They shrink when dry and swell when moistened. Vertisols make up a relatively homogenous order of soils because of the amount and kind of clay that is common to them.
Why are vertisols a relatively homogeneous order of soil?
Vertisols make up a relatively homogenous order of soils because of the amount and kind of clay that is common to them. In many countries where Vertisols are common, they are known by their local names.
What is a vertical soil?
Vertisols (from Latin verto, “turn”) are clay-rich soils that shrink and swell with changes in moisture content. During dry periods, the soil volume shrinks and deep wide cracks form. The soil volume then expands as it wets up.
Can Vertisols be farmed?
Most Vertisols are well suited for mechanized farming if there is plenty of rainfall or irrigation water and if suitable management practices are followed. Large areas of Vertisols in the world, however, are not farmed, because their cultivation would require too much energy, especially where traditional, low-input methods are used.