Soil great group

Natracuol

Of the Acuol suborder; it has a natric horizon: accumulation of clay with a lot of exchangeable sodium, which disperses the clay and blocks the passage of water and roots.

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.
SuborderAcuolMolisol with excess water: saturated near the surface for part of the year, with redox depletions (gray, mottles) in the profile.
Great groupNatracuolWithin the Acuol suborder, it has a natric horizon: accumulation of clay with a lot of exchangeable sodium, which disperses the clay and blocks the passage of water and roots.

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.

Typical of the low-lying areas of the Pampa Deprimida: floodable and sodic, for livestock use.

Most common surface texture
Silt loam
Most common drainage
Imperfect
Typical effective depth
50 cm

Where it is found

According to the 1:500.000 national map, it covers about 5.157.690 ha, spread over 103 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
Buenos Aires3.099.679 ha
Santa Fe1.221.206 ha
Chaco276.239 ha
Corrientes185.554 ha
Santiago del Estero174.499 ha
Córdoba160.231 ha
Entre Ríos40.283 ha

Districts where it is most common

It also appears on the detailed maps of: Buenos Aires, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Santiago del Estero.

How productive it is

Where it is the main soil of the map unit, the productivity index has a median of 1 (very low); half of the units fall between 1 and 1.

Land capability

VI
VII

class II: 1% · class III: 1% · class IV: 3% · class VI: 9% · class VII: 87%

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

Soil series

Series are the specific soils, named after places, that detailed maps describe under this name. Two properties with the same series have the same soil.

Corrientes

A? Guayabal · Mascada

Buenos Aires

General Guido · Tatay · Las Armas · Mechongue · Santa Rita · La Malacara · Castelli · Santa Lucia · Estacion La Limpia · El Vigilante · La Nueva Esperanza · Balbin · Drabble · Rauch · Estancia La Chana · Coronel Vidal · Ingeniero Silveyra · Chaja · Esquina de Crotto · Los Indios · Vichahuel · Gral Guido · Estancia Tarrhue · Estacion Dennehy · Tamangueyu · El Carrizal · Querandies

Entre Ríos

Mazaruca · Ibicuy · La Nueva · Los Rodeos

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