Umbrisols are soils with a surface accumulation of organic matter of low base saturation. They are well drained, permeable, moderately deep to deep soils, of medium‐texture. The profile may contain gravel, stones and boulders throughout. The following account is from FAO (2001).
Connotation. Soils with a dark topsoil; from L., umbra, shade.
Synonyms. Only recently recognized at this high taxonomic level. In other classification systems they appear as umbrepts and humitropepts (USA Soil Taxonomy), humic cambisols and umbric regosols (FAO), sombric brunisols and humic regosols (France) or brown podzolic soil (in several systems, for example Indonesia).
Definition. In FAO (2001) Umbrisols are defined as soils having an umbric horizon. The only other possible horizons are an anthropedogenic horizon less than 50 cm thick, an albic horizon or a cambic horizon.
Parent material. Mostly formed on the weathering material of siliceous rock; predominantly in deposits of late Pleistocene and...
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Bibliography
FAO, 2001. Lecture notes on the major soils of the world. World Soil Resources Reports, 94. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 334 pp.
FitzPatrick, E.A., 1986. An Introduction to Soil Science, 2nd ed. Essex, England/New York: Longman Scientific & Technical/Wiley, 255 pp.
Zech, W., and Hintermaier‐Erhard, G., 2007. Soils of the World. Heidelberg, Berlin: Springer‐Verlag, 130 pp.
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Spaargaren, O. (2008). Umbrisols. In: Chesworth, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Soil Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3995-9_612
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