Soil great group

Paleudol

Of the Udol suborder; it is very old and evolved: very thick clay horizon, or a petrocalcic horizon (calcareous hardpan) indicating a long time of formation.

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.
SuborderUdolMolisol humid climate (udic moisture regime): the profile almost never spends more than three months dry.
Great groupPaleudolWithin the Udol suborder, it is very old and evolved: very thick clay horizon, or a petrocalcic horizon (calcareous hardpan) indicating a long time of formation.

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.

In the southeast of Buenos Aires it is usually the one with calcareous hardpan (petrocalcic horizon) at shallow depth.

Most common surface texture
Silt loam
Most common drainage
Moderate
Typical effective depth
170 cm

Where it is found

According to the 1:500.000 national map, it covers about 200.685 ha, spread over 13 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
Corrientes123.896 ha
Buenos Aires76.789 ha

Districts where it is most common

It also appears on the detailed maps of: Buenos Aires, Corrientes.

How productive it is

Where it is the main soil of the map unit, the productivity index has a median of 57 (Well); half of the units fall between 55 and 57.

Land capability

II
III

class II: 85% · class III: 9% · class IV: 5% · class VI: 1%

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

Santa Teresita · San Luis · Albardon

Buenos Aires

Rio Tala · Estancia Aldecoa · Magdalena · Etcheverry · Urquiza · Ignacio Correa · Luis Chico · Las Delicias

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