Soil great group

Haploxerol

Of the Xerol suborder; it It is the simplest of the suborder: it does not have a clay horizon or any other feature that places it in a more specific group..

What the name says

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

Taxonomic orderMolisolSoil with a thick, dark surface horizon rich in organic matter (the mollic epipedon), with more than half of its exchange capacity occupied by calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium. It forms under grassland.
SuborderXerolMolisol Mediterranean climate (xeric moisture regime): it rains in winter and summer is dry.
Great groupHaploxerolWithin the Xerol suborder, it It is the simplest of the suborder: it does not have a clay horizon or any other feature that places it in a more specific group..

What it means for farming

They are the soils agricultural lands par excellence: the Pampas grassland formed them and most of Argentine agriculture is done on them. They retain water and nutrients; its limitation, when there is one, is below: clay, sodium, calcareous hardpan or drainage.

Most common surface texture
Sandy loam
Most common drainage
Excessive
Typical effective depth
115 cm

Where it is found

According to the 1:500.000 national map, it covers about 1.237.290 ha, spread over 20 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
Chubut900.629 ha
Neuquén244.015 ha
Río Negro87.031 ha
Santa Cruz5.614 ha

Districts where it is most common

How productive it is

Where it is the main soil of the map unit, the productivity index has a median of 39.5 (low); half of the units fall between 14 and 61.

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.

Subgroups on the maps

  • Haploxerol éntico
  • Haploxerol arídico
  • Haploxerol lítico
  • Haploxerol cálcico
  • Haploxerol cumúlico
  • Haploxerol tapto árgico

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