Soil Orders and Climate Types

Cfa

Moist Warm Temperate Climate -no dry season -hot summer -ex: Atlanta, Georgia

ET

Polar Tundra

Aridisol

-soils of arid regions with one or more diagnostic horizons -low organic material -can be made productive with irrigation

Histosol

-wet, organic soils -in warm climates -productive after drainage

Vertisols

-dark tropical and subtropical soils developed on heavy clays -have deep shrinkage cracks when dry -swell when wet -generally fertile

Oxisols

-deeply weathered tropical and subtropical soils -low in fertility -low base saturation and limited ability to hold nutrients against leaching

Alfisol

-develop under humid regions of cool to warm temperatures -medium to high base saturation -generally fertile

Calcification

-found in grassland environments -abundant organic matter in soil -very basic

Laterization

-found in tropical rainforests -soils are strongly leached, due to constant downward motion of soil water -exchangeable bases are leached out and replaced with H+ ions

Mollisol

-high base status -associated with grasslands -very productive for grain crops

Ultisols

-low base status -subsurface clay horizon -low nutrient-holding ability -characterized by long weathering of their clay minerals

Gelisol

-permafrost layer near the surface

Spodosol

-range from cold to subtropical regions -generally marginal for agriculture

Podzolization

-soil process of cold climates with abundant precipitation -a dark organic horizon of partially decomposed vegetation underlain by a leached horizon of a whitish color -under that is the illuvial horizon where the partially decomposed organic matter is deposited

BWk

Cold Desert -caused by rain shadow

BSk

Cold Grassland -ex: denver

Csb

Cool dry summer

Dwd

Dry Winter Continental -ex: Siberia

Dwc

Dry Winter Continental -short summer

Cw

Dry season at low sun -w means dry winter -an extension poleward of the Aw climate -dry season at low sun is also caused by a seasonal shift of the Hadley cell

BWh

Hot Desert

BSh

Hot Grassland -ex: subtropical southern grasslands -lies adjacent to Aw and thus has a dry season at low sun

Dfa

Humid Continental - hot summer -ex: Chicago, IL

Dfb

Humid Continental - mild summer -ex: Winnipeg, Manitoba

Csa

Mediterranean -distinctive because of an absence of precipitation at high-sun -found on west coasts between 30 and 40 degrees

Cfb

Moist Warm Temperate Climate -no dry season -mild summer -ex: London, UK

Cfc

Moist Warm Temperate Climate -no dry season -short summer -ex: Juneau, Alaska

Am

Tropical Monsoon Climate -has a dry and wet season caused by movement of air from relatively cold surface (high pressure) to relatively hot surface (low pressure)

Aw

Tropical Wet and Dry Climate -dry season at low sun and a wet season at high sun, produced by the Hadley cell shift

Af

Wet Equatorial Climate -uniformly wet and hot all year