Papers

Summary

The focus of our study were to study soil-landscape relationships in a sandstone-basalt transition lithosequence and to compare the limits of geomorphic surfaces mapped in the field with those mapped by geostatistical techniques. An area of 530 ha was mapped using GPS equipment in order to generate a model of digital elevation, which allowed for the establishment of a transection of 2.100 m from the hill top downwards. Along the transection, the altitude was measured at 50 m regular intervals to construct the elevation profile. The geomorphic surfaces were identified and delimited according to topographic and stratigraphic criteria based on detailed field investigations. Soil samples were collected at 67 points of the identified geomorphic surfaces, in the 0.0–0.25 m and 0.80–1.00 m depths. Besides, trenches were opened in the slope segments of the mapped geomorphic surfaces. The samples were analyzed for bulk density, texture, Ca, K, Mg, SB, CEC, V%, pH (water and KCl), SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 (H2SO4 attack), and “free” iron oxides extracted with dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate, while poorly crystallized iron was extracted with ammonium oxalate. The iron-free clay fraction was analyzed by x-ray diffraction. The compartmentalization of the area in geomorphic surfaces and the identification of the parent material explained well the variation in the soil attributes. An individual analysis of the soil attributes by univariate statistics contributed to the discrimination of the three geomorphic surfaces. Geostatistical techniques confirmed the agreement of the limits determined by individualized soil attributes with those of the geomorphic surfaces.