Alisols
Alisols define a soil group within the World Reference Base for Soil Resources[1]
Properties include having an argic horizon, which has a specific cation exchange capacity; a predominantly alic properties zone between 250mm and 1000 mm from the soil surface; and no diagnostic horizons other than an ochric, umbric, albic, andic, ferric, nitic, plinthic or vertic horizon.[1]
Simply put, alisols are poorly drained sand soils with a dense subsurface clay layer, which causes a relatively high concentration of aluminum ions in the root zone.
There exist mixed forms, for example 'gleyic alisol', that are mainly alisol, but also contain components that are found in gleysols.
[edit] Agricultural use
Alisols are acidic (increased by limited drainage) and therefore need liming, they contain few nutrients and therefore need fertilizer, and they do not have much surface coherence so they are easily eroded.
In some alisols amount of aluminum is so high that plants can be poisoned by it.
Encyclopædia Britannica mentions oil palm, cotton, and maize (corn) as crops suitable to be grown on this soil.
[edit] References
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