Fig. 3.5 Profile showing lithic contact at 45 cm depth (AD113)
A lithic contact is the boundary between soil and a coherent
underlying material. The underlying material must be virtually continuous within the limits of a pedon. Cracks that can be penetrated by roots are few, and their horizontal spacing is 10 cm or more.
The underlying material must be sufficiently coherent when moist to make hand-digging with a spade impractical, although the material may be chipped or scraped with a spade. The material below a lithic contact must be in a strongly cemented or more cemented rupture-resistance class. Commonly, the material is indurated. The underlying material considered here does not include diagnostic soil horizons, such as a duripan or a petrocalcic horizon.
Fig. 3.5 Profile showing lithic contact at 45 cm depth (AD113)
A lithic contact is the boundary between soil and a coherent
underlying material. The underlying material must be virtually continuous within the limits of a pedon. Cracks that can be penetrated by roots are few, and their horizontal spacing is 10 cm or more.
The underlying material must be sufficiently coherent when moist to make hand-digging with a spade impractical, although the material may be chipped or scraped with a spade. The material below a lithic contact must be in a strongly cemented or more cemented rupture-resistance class. Commonly, the material is indurated. The underlying material considered here does not include diagnostic soil horizons, such as a duripan or a petrocalcic horizon.