Aridisol

Aridisol
an aridisol profile
Used in	USDA soil taxonomy
Key process	soil carbon oxidation
Climate	desert, semi-arid

Aridisols (or desert soils) are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy.^[1] Aridisols (from the Latin aridus, for "dry", and solum) form in an arid or semi-arid climate. Aridisols dominate the deserts and xeric shrublands, which occupy about one-third of the Earth's land surface. Aridisols have a very low concentration of organic matter, reflecting the paucity of vegetative production on these dry soils. Water deficiency is the central defining characteristic of Aridisols. Also required is sufficient age to exhibit subsoil weathering and development. Limited leaching in aridisols often results in one or more subsurface soil horizons in which suspended or dissolved minerals have been deposited: silicate clays, sodium, calcium carbonate, gypsum, or soluble salts. These subsoil horizons can also be cemented by carbonates, gypsum, or silica. Accumulation of salts on the surface can result in salinization.

In the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB), most Aridisols belong to the Calcisols, Gypsisols, Durisols and Solonchaks.^[2]

See also

• Desert ecology
• Pedogenesis
• Pedology
• Soil classification
• Soil science
• Soil type
• Calcid

References

1. "Aridisols". USDA-NRCS. Archived from the original on 9 May 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-14.
2. IUSS Working Group WRB (2015). "World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014, Update 2015" (PDF). World Soil Resources Reports 106, FAO, Rome.

• "Aridisols". University of Florida. Archived from the original on September 16, 2006. Retrieved 2006-05-14.
• "Aridisols". University of Idaho. Archived from the original on 2006-09-01. Retrieved 2006-05-14.