Andisols of the Kitakami mountain range, Northeastern Japan: Their characterization and classification

Abstract

Andisols of the Kitakami mountain range were derived from a mixture of tephras and long range eolian dust deposited during the Quaternary. Thus, the relative proportions of the components of the mixture determined the unique properties of the soils. Soils of the northern and central parts of the mountain range were derived mainly from tephras and had been classified, generally, as Typic Kuroboku soils by the Group of Japanese Pedologists. Soils of the southern part showed a strong influence of long range eolian dust and had been classified, generally, as Typic Para Kuroboku soils. We studied the Andic soil properties of 35 pedons covering the mountain range in order to classify them under the Andisols order. All the soils showed a bulk density (BD) < 0.90 Mg m-3 and Pretention >85% in the Andisol diagnostic horizon. The soils of the northern and central parts of the mountain range had a pH(H 2 0) range of 5.1-6.7 and acid oxalate-extractable Al plus half Fe (Alo+0.5Feo) level was >2%. They were therefore classified under criterion one of the Andic soils requirements. The soils of the southern part of the mountain range had a pH(H 2 0) range of 4.3-5_7 and the majority of them contained <2.0% of Al o +0.5Fe o . The pedons with Alo +0.5Fe o level < 2.0%, however, had a sufficient amount of volcanic glass in their sand fraction to satisfy the criterion two of the Andic soil requirements. The soils of the northern part contained moderate amounts of organic C and were mainly Typic Hapludands. The soils of the southern part contained large amounts of KCI-extractable Al and organic C and also showed a wider spectrum of Andisols. However, Alic and Typic Fulvudands, and Alic and Typic Melanudands tended to occur in higher frequencies. The classification of the pedons of the central part bridged that of the pedons of the northern and the southern parts.Key Words: Andisols, Kitakami mountain range, long-range eolian dust, tephra, USDA Soil Taxonomy.Soils derived from tephras and others with similar properties, perhaps more than any other group of soils, have been subjected to continuous changes in their terminology. Apart from numerous local names, these soils have been classified variously; Ando soils (Thorp and Smith 1949), Andosols (FAa/UNESCO 1974), Andepts (Soil Survey Staff 1975) and, presently, Andisols (Soil Survey Staff 1990. The extent of the changes is a measure of the advances in the knowledge of their pedogenesis. Although these soils have originally been associated solely with tephra, with the creation of the Andisols order and its subsequent revisions, Andisols derived from parent materials other than tephra have been reported. The reports cover tephric nonallophanic Andisols (Baham and Simonson 1985;Hunter et al. 1987;Shoji and Otowa 1988), nontephric nonallophanic Andisols (Garcfa-Rodeja et al. 1987;Clayden 1989;Leamy et al. 1990;Baumler and Zech 1994) and non-tephric allophanic Andisols (Whitton et al. 1985). Thus, the central concept of Andisols has expanded from soils dominated by allophane, imogolite...

Mineral and geochemical characterization of a leptic aluandic soil and a thapto aluandic-ferralsol developed on trachytes in Mount Bambouto (Cameroon volcanic line)

“…Andosols occur in volcanic regions all over the world and cover about 1% of the earth's surface (Leamy, 1984) under a variety of environmental conditions (Jahn, 1991;Saigusa et al, 1991;Shoji et al, 1993;Zhao et al, 1993;Nizeyimana et al, 1997;Adjadeh and Inoue, 1999;Aran et al, 2001;Campos Cascaredo et al, 2001;Quantin, 2004). In tropical regions, they are widespread and represent circa 50% of the total andosols worldwide, they occur predominantly around the Pacific Rim and the Africa Rift Valley.…”

Allophane, aluminum, and organic matter accumulation across a bioclimatic sequence of volcanic ash soils of Argentina

“…A considerable amount of information has been published, in Japan (Shoji et al, 1982(Shoji et al, , 1988Saigusa et al, 1991;Adjadeh and Inoue, 1999), Indonesia (Tan, 1965), New Zealand (Parfitt and Wilson, 1985), Rwanda (Nizeyimana et al, 1997), Spain (Jahn, 1991), United States of America (Baham andSimonson, 1985 in Mizota andvan Reeuwijk, 1989), Italy (Quantin et al, 1985), France (Aran et al, 1998), Mexico (Campos Cascaredo et al, 2001), and China (Zhao et al, 1993). Volcanic ash soils are also found in great extensions in the Andinopatagonian region, and in particular in the province of Neuquén, Argentina.…”

Free oxides and short-range ordered mineral properties of brown forest soils developed from different parent materials in the submontane zone of the Kanto and Chubu districts, Japan

“…Andisols with large amounts of Al (Fe)-humus complex were shown to have moderately to strongly acid pH (H 2 O), high organic carbon and high KCl-extractable Al content (Adjadeh and Inoue 1999). Figure 4 shows the relationship between the contents of Alp and Fep and pH (H 2 O) values.…”

“…, high KCl-extractable Al content and thick dark epipedons were generated (Adjadeh and Inoue 1999). These soils are characterized by a large amount of volcanic glass.…”