PETROCLACIC, TYPIC
Soil profile: A Typic Petrocalcid, sandy, carbonatic, hyperthermic, shallow (Soil AD106).
This soil is in the Aridisol soil order. Aridisols, as their name implies, are soils in which water is not available to mesophytic plants for long periods. During most of the time when the soils are warm enough for plants to grow, soil water is held at potentials less than the permanent wilting point or has a content of soluble salts great enough to limit the growth of plants other than halophytes, or both. The concept of Aridisols is based on limited soil moisture available for the growth of most plants. In areas bordering deserts, the absolute precipitation may be sufficient for the growth of some plants. Because of runoff or a very low storage capacity of the soils, or both, however, the actual soil moisture regime is aridic.
These soils occur mainly on the eastern coastline areas (of the UAE) and also in older deflation plain locations. The soils are well drained or moderately well drained above the hardpan. The hardpans are very slow or moderately slow in permeability.
Landscape: A coastal sabkha along the north-central coast of the UAE. A sabkha is a coastal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate. Sabkhas are gradational between land and intertidal zone within restricted coastal plains just above normal high-tide level. Within a sabkha, evaporite-saline minerals sediments typically accumulate below the surface of mudflats or sandflats. Evaporite-saline minerals, tidal-flood, and aeolian deposits characterize many sabkhas found along modern coastlines. The accepted type locality for a sabkha is at the southern coast of the Persian Gulf, in the United Arab Emirates.
Soil feature: Fragments of the petrocalcic horizon with remnant shells. The soils are shallow or very shallow sand overlying calcium carbonate-rich cemented hardpan within 50cm.
For more information about soil classification in the UAE, visit:
"United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy" and "ICBA News"
PETROCLACIC, TYPIC
Soil profile: A Typic Petrocalcid, sandy, carbonatic, hyperthermic, shallow (Soil AD106).
This soil is in the Aridisol soil order. Aridisols, as their name implies, are soils in which water is not available to mesophytic plants for long periods. During most of the time when the soils are warm enough for plants to grow, soil water is held at potentials less than the permanent wilting point or has a content of soluble salts great enough to limit the growth of plants other than halophytes, or both. The concept of Aridisols is based on limited soil moisture available for the growth of most plants. In areas bordering deserts, the absolute precipitation may be sufficient for the growth of some plants. Because of runoff or a very low storage capacity of the soils, or both, however, the actual soil moisture regime is aridic.
These soils occur mainly on the eastern coastline areas (of the UAE) and also in older deflation plain locations. The soils are well drained or moderately well drained above the hardpan. The hardpans are very slow or moderately slow in permeability.
Landscape: A coastal sabkha along the north-central coast of the UAE. A sabkha is a coastal mudflat or sandflat in which evaporite-saline minerals accumulate as the result of semiarid to arid climate. Sabkhas are gradational between land and intertidal zone within restricted coastal plains just above normal high-tide level. Within a sabkha, evaporite-saline minerals sediments typically accumulate below the surface of mudflats or sandflats. Evaporite-saline minerals, tidal-flood, and aeolian deposits characterize many sabkhas found along modern coastlines. The accepted type locality for a sabkha is at the southern coast of the Persian Gulf, in the United Arab Emirates.
Soil feature: Fragments of the petrocalcic horizon with remnant shells. The soils are shallow or very shallow sand overlying calcium carbonate-rich cemented hardpan within 50cm.
For more information about soil classification in the UAE, visit:
"United Arab Emirates Keys to Soil Taxonomy" and "ICBA News"