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 […]

In northern and western landscapes of São Paulo State, plinthite and petroplinthite are features observed commonly above the cretaceous Adamantina Formation sandstones (Bauru Group). Two representative soil profiles with plinthic, petroplinthic and mottling features were selected in the local landscape to evaluate the mineralogical characteristics and to study their formation. The study was carried out at the foot of a mountainside in the Experimental Station Pindorama of the Agronomic Institute Campinas (IAC), in the north of São Paulo State, Brazil. […]

Soil or land leveling, a process of adequation of land surface, is being practiced in many rice-growing farms in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This process produces profound changes in the morphological, physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil. To study these changes, test areas were selected with homogeneous surfaces where Planosols occur and on which land leveling was performed for eight years, one year, and one month and with original soil, at São João do […]

To investigate the mineralogical variations with depth, 11samples were collected down to 14m, in an exposed sediment packet of the Barreiras Group in Aracruz, Espírito Santo, Brazil.The sand, silt and clay fractions were studied by X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetry and electron microscopy.The total contents of Fe in the clay and silt fractions and Ti and Zr in the silt fraction were determined by ICP after fluoridric acid extraction.Clay and silt fractions were submitted to selective and sequential mineral […]

Hematites were synthesized with different degrees of isomorphic substitution (IS) of Fe for Al to a maximum of 16Almol%.The minerals were characterized by X-ray diffraction, total chemical analysis, extraction of iron and aluminum soluble in ammonium acid oxalate (Feo+Alo), determination of the anion exchange capacity (AEC) and specific surface area (SSA).The results showed that the synthesis methods resulted in a minimum amount of impurities and that, in a general way, the foreseen values of isomorphic substitution were achieved.The SSA values […]

Redox processes affect the reactivity of iron oxides and this can affect the P availability in soils. To evaluate how this processes can affect phosphorus availability, this study was carried out with six Uruguayan soils, which differed in their parent material, and subjected to alternation of the flooded-drained conditions. Soil samples (0-15 cm) of the A horizon, were flooded during 0, 5, 15 and 45 days, drained and sampled after 21 days of air-drying. Fe extracted by ammonium oxalate at […]

Iron oxihydroxides form strong chemical bonds with phosphate anions, reducing P availability to plants. The objective of this study, conducted in 1994/95, was to quantify forms of iron oxides in soils from Uruguay, and to study their relationships with phosphorus sorption. Iron oxides extracted with dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate (Fed) from ten soil samples (0-15 cm depth) ranged from 1598 to 8.592 mg kg-1 and were related with their parent material. Poorly ordered Fe-oxihydroxides, extracted by 0.2 mol L-1 ammonium oxalate at pH […]