Pedogenesis and characteristics of the Terra rossas developed on different physiographic position and their classification

Abstract

Terra Rossas occur in the eastern part of the Bursa plain, Turkey. The region is covered by large forests growing on Terra Rossa soils. This area has ecological importance for these forests. The purpose of this study was to characterize five Terra Rossa profiles and to relate their properties to the pedogenic processes responsible for their formation under these important forests. Five soil profiles were selected on five different elevations ranging between 200 to 350 m under natural vegetation. Soils are dominated by the influence of climate and lithology. A special classification problem has occurred for two out of five profiles (World Reference Base for Soil Resources). These soils did not meet the clay increase requested by the WRB (2006) classification system for Luvisols. But they were classified due to the high contents of clay, clay coating and infilling in the B horizons and based on field characteristics. The soil samples were examined and classified according to the systems of USDA Soil Taxonomy (2003) and WRB (2006) as Calcic Haploxeralfs and Calcic Luvisols.