Abstract
Gypsisols, mainly distributed in arid lands, support a key economic activity and have attracted a lot of scientific interest due to their particular physical and chemical properties. For example, Gypsisols show a high erodibility, low fertility and a variable water holding capacity that can be attributed to different gypsum particle sizes. This study aims to describe some representative Gypsisols from the middle Ebro Basin. Five representative soil profiles (mainly Gypsisols by WRB) were selected and sampled at different positions along a hillside where soils where developed on gyprock. Furthemore, it links micromorphological properties with soil water retention. Soils have a dominant loamy texture, more rarely stoney. Gypsum is abundant in all soil profiles, ranging from 6 to 84% with minimum values in Ah horizons and maximum in By and Cy. The soils have a low level of salinity and a very low cation exchange capacity (CEC). The soil organic matter (SOM) is medium or abundant in the Ah horizons, otherwise it is low. Soil aggregate stability (SAS) is related significantly and positively with SOM and porosity, which is also positively related with moisture retention at field capacity and saturation humidity. However, there is no significant correlation between porosity and permanent wilting point (PWP). Soil water retention is dependant on the gypsum percentage and textural class. Low levels of gypsum have no influence on water retention, but high gypsum levels (> 60%) enhance the field capacity (FC) and decrease PWP, especially when the gypsum is microcrystalline. Gypsum levels between 40 and 60% also increase available water contents (AWC) due to a decrease in PWP. There is a positive and significant correlation between PWP and FC in Gypsisols, except for those which are loamy and have gypsum values over 40%. The higher available water capacity (AWC) than expected is related to microcrystalline gypsum, predominant in the studied soils. These high AWC values are counteracted by an increasingly irregular pore space not suitable for root growth. All these cited characteristics result in a low fertility, influenced by the weather and the human impact, which deforested the highest part of these mountains in the Middle Ages.
Highlights
Gypsisols are extremely scarce in the world (IUSS 2007), making up less than 0.1% of European soils (EC 2005)
Soil pH is basic for all the horizons due to the presence of CaCO3, except the 2Az horizon in toe-slope, which is very basic because of sodium and magnesium carbonates (Table 2)
We find some iron oxy-hydroxide nodules, which are considered relict from a past seasonal soil flooding because they are found inside soil aggregates (Figures 5 and 7)
Summary
Gypsisols are extremely scarce in the world (IUSS 2007), making up less than 0.1% of European soils (EC 2005). In recent decades the level of interest in soils with gypsum (CaSO4 2H2O) has increased, with studies focusing on agricultural land (Porta and Herrero 1990; Eswaran and Zi-Tong 1991; Poch 1992; Poch and Verplancke 1997; Poch et al 1998; Porta 1998; Herrero 2004; Dultz and Kühn 2005; Poch et al 2010). From the viewpoint of soil moisture retention, some authors report very low values (Herrero 2005), while others report the opposite. This can be attributed to different gypsum particle size and to the degree of mixing of the gypsum infilling with the groundmass (Poch et al 1998)
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