Plinthite: Plinthic horizon from South Carolina (L) vs California (R)

(L) View of polygonal or irregularly shaped mottling in a Dothan soil from the upper coastal plain of South Carolina. These soils commonly have 5 to more than 35 percent plinthite in the subsoil, decreasing with depth to a dense, compact aquitard layer that facilitates plinthite formation.

 

(R) View of reticulate mottling in a paleosol at Cabrillo National Monument. The term “reticulate” defines the well-defined pattern or network of soil colors. Reticulate mottling is a feature of paleosols at Cabrillo National Monument. Reticulate mottling consists of a network of mottles or redoximorphic features. These features are commonly associated with plinthite. Plinthite is a redoximorphic feature in mineral soils. It forms from the segregation of iron and aluminum in a mixture of clay and quartz. If plinthite is repeatedly subject to wetting and drying, it hardens irreversibly to form ironstone (Soil Survey Staff, 1999). (Soil Survey of Cabrillo National Monument, California; United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service).

 

For additional information about the Soil Survey area, visit:

archive.org/details/usda-soil-survey-of-cabrillo-national...

 

For more information about a plinthic horizon, visit;

www.researchgate.net/publication/242649722_Rationale_for_...

or;

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S00167061220043...

 

Done