Soil color is one of the central attributes in soil classification because it is related to the organic matter content and iron oxide mineralogy. The objective of this study was to make an evaluation of the predictive capacity of soil color, as determined by diffuse reflectance techniques, to quantify hematite and goethite in different Brazilian latosols (Oxisols). The spectroscopy technique allowed separating yellowish and light colored samples from dark and red ones, indicating an increase in reflectivity with decreasing hematite […]

Most of the intensely cultivated soils of South Brazil are Brown and Red Ferric Latosols developed from basalt. Typical profiles of these two classes have brown and red hues, respectively, but polychromatic profiles with brown hues in the surface horizons and reddish hues in the subsurface horizons (formerly denominated Brown/Reddish Latosols) also occur. Exact color parameters that separate Brown and Red Latosols are not yet defined in the Brazilian Soil Classification System. All these soils are clayey and have high […]

Detailed chemical and crystal properties of the kaolinite (Ka) and iron oxides in the Barreiras Group soils and sediments (Coastal Tablelands) are little known. Eleven samples were collected (0,7; 1,4; 2,1; 2,8; 3,5; 4,2; 4,9; 5,6; 7,7; 10,5 and 14m) in an exposed sediment sequence in Aracruz, Espírio Santo State, Brazil, in order to study the characteristics of these minerals with depth. Clay and silt fractions were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis and electron microscopy. Total contents […]

To study iron and aluminum oxide characteristics, samples of soils developed from different parent materials and with different development degrees were selected and collected from MG, ES, RS and RR states. The clay fraction was analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetry and electron microscopy. Al, Si and microelement contents were determined from ammonium oxalate (Ox) and dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate (DCB) extractions. Overall, goethite (Gt) was the main iron oxide in the clay fraction. Only the soils developed from basalt […]

Soils with brown or yellowish brown hues are dominant in the high altitude areas of southern Brazil. This feature is a consequence of the cool weather and high humidity conditions, which contribute for the formation of goethite and complete soil xantization. However, in some sites, soils present brown and yellowish brown hues in surface and transitional horizons, yet preserving red colors in subsurface horizons what may represent a relic of a drier and hotter climate condition from the past. In […]

This study was conducted to examine the distribution and nature of Fe oxides in plinthic soils on the sediments of Barreiras Group (in the state of Piauí) and Itapecuru Formation (in the state of Maranhão) in Northeastern Brazil. Four pedons were selected: a “plinthic, dystrophic, epieutrophic Gray Podzolic with low activity clay” and a “dystrophic Plinthosol with low activity clay” (both Plinthic Kandiustalfs) on the Barreiras sediments, as well as an “eutrophic Plinthosol with low activity clay” and an “allic […]

Hematites from nine soils and one from itabirite rock were concentrated with 5 mol L-1 NaOH, and analyzed by XRD (step scanning 0.02o2θ/20 s), to determine the unit cell parameters. The samples were dissolved by extraction with DCB to determine the Fe (Fed) and Al (Ald) content. Al substitution was estimated from a0 using established regressions currently in use based on hematites synthesized at 25°C (Al25) and 70°C (Al70). The a0 values ranged from 0.50380 to 0.50200 nm, corresponding to […]