Soil subgroup

Cambortid ustólico

It is less dry than the typical one: it is close to Ustoles, Molisoles subhumid climate.

Cambortid is a name from the 1975 taxonomy, which many INTA soil survey maps were made with. The current edition no longer has this group: today it would be classified as Haplocambid.

What the name says

Soil Taxonomy names are built from parts, and each part says something about the soil. From general to specific:

Taxonomic orderAridisolSoil arid climate: water is lacking most of the year and the profile accumulates what the rain cannot wash away (carbonates, gypsum, salts) or clay from more humid times.
SuborderOrtidAridisol without clay horizon.
Great groupCambortidWithin the Ortid suborder, it has only one cambic horizon: incipient development, no accumulations.
SubgroupustólicoIt is less dry than the typical one: it is close to Ustoles, Molisoles subhumid climate.

What it means for farming

Without irrigation there is no agriculture: they are soils of native woodland, extensive grazing or, with water, irrigated oases (Mendoza, San Juan, the valleys of the NOA).

Most common surface texture
Loam
Most common drainage
Something Excessive
Typical effective depth
100 cm

Where it is found

According to the 1:500.000 national map, it covers about 1.203.111 ha, spread over 16 districts.

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National map units that list it. The scale is 1:500.000: good for seeing the region, not a single property.

ProvinceArea
Santa Cruz771.187 ha
Córdoba253.140 ha
Santiago del Estero66.429 ha
Jujuy55.715 ha
Río Negro54.002 ha
Salta2.638 ha

Districts where it is most common

It also appears on the detailed maps of: Santiago del Estero.

How productive it is

Where it is the main soil of the map unit, the productivity index has a median of 32 (low); half of the units fall between 32 and 50.

Land capability

VII

class VII: 100%

Taken from the maps that include this data. A map unit with several soils has a single index, and it is only attributed to the dominant soil.

Other Cambortid subgroups

Soils it shares map units with

Several soils share each map unit. These are the ones most often found alongside this one: on a property, you will likely find them in the nearby low ground or on the next rise.

The definitions are a plain-language summary of the USDA Keys to Soil Taxonomy. The formal definition includes thickness, color and percentage thresholds that are left out here.

Sources