Carmela B.

Miranda BSA 1C

Soils of South America

South America - 8/03/19

20 distinct soil regions

Soils in South America
More than 20 distinct soil regions can be found on the South American continent
as a result of its geologic history, topography, climate, and vegetation. Three
major groupings correspond to the continent’s three primary land regions—the
lowlands, the highlands, and the Andes.
Low natural fertility is a conspicuous feature of soils in the humid tropic regions of
South America. About half of the continent’s soils consist either of unconsolidated
and nutrient-poor sediments (e.g., kaolins [china clays] and quartz sands)
deposited in river basins, latosols (red soils leached of silica and containing
residual concentrations of iron and aluminum sesquioxides), red-yellow
podzols (acidic soils with a bleached upper horizon, or layer, that are low in lime),
and regosols (azonal soils consisting mainly of imperfectly consolidated material
and having a complex morphology). About one-fifth of the continent is covered by
arid soils of various types in which agriculture is risky without irrigation.
Other regions, representing about 10 percent of the total area, are poorly
drained, the soils being either gleys (clayey soils in which the substrate is bluish
gray, generally sticky, and often structureless because of excessive moisture),
groundwater laterites, grumosols (soils with a high content of expanding clays), or
planosols (a type of soil found in humid climates in which soluble salts and
minerals are leached out of the upper layers and are cemented or compacted at a
lower level). In the Andes, slopes are often steep, and lithosols (shallow soils
consisting of imperfectly weathered rock fragments) abound, accounting for
another 10 percent of the continent’s surface. In the inter-Andean valleys and on
some of the foothills, nevertheless, eutrophic soils (deposited by lakes, and
containing much nutrient matter, but often shallow and subject to seasonal
oxygen deficiency) can be found.
Fertile soils, therefore, extend over only about 10 percent of the surface of South
America. The most important of these are brunizems (deep, dark-coloured prairie
soils, developed from wind-deposited loess), chestnut soils, and ferruginous
tropical soils. On the low coastal ranges, in the foothills of the western Andes, and
on the nearby plains and terraces of Colombia and Ecuador, the soils consist
mainly of red-yellow latosols, podzols, and alluvial soils. Soils in southern Brazil
and Uruguay consist of brunizems, reddish prairie soils, and planosols. The
Argentine Pampas, the largest fertile area on the continent, is uniformly covered
with the so-called pampean loess, which is calcareous, rich in minerals, and mixed
with volcanic sediment.Less rich soils are found in the uplands of northeastern
and central Brazil, consisting mainly of sandy regosols in the north and red
latosols in the south. The agricultural development of South America closely
reflects the distribution of soils according to their fertility. It is mostly confined to
the eastern mid-latitude plains, in which is concentrated the production of cereal
grains and cattle grazing; to the subtropical and temperate parts of the Andes,
from Colombia to Chile, where grazing takes place and a variety of crops are
cultivated; and to eastern and southeastern Brazil, where coffee, cacao, soybeans,
and sugarcane are grown, while the interior plateaus are devoted to cattle
grazing.
Soil erosion has ravaged a large part of the continent. |According to some
estimates, in several countries half or more of the presently arable land has been
severely damaged or ruined by poor land management. In the Andes, land that
once produced high yields of wheat is now abandoned. Mountain forests are still
cleared for cattle grazing and cultivation, which greatly accelerates erosion and
ruins the soil of the region for years thereafter. Soil damage has been less severe
in areas of relatively flat terrain. Campaigns for soil conservation or restoration
have been implemented in most countries. "South America" © Emmanuel
BUCHOT, Encarta, Wikipedia
References
8 March 2019 Soils of south america

https://www.voyagesphotosmanu.com/soils_of_south_america.html

15 January 2020, at 02:51 (UTC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Melville
 Herman Melville, 1870. Oil painting

by

Joseph Oriel Eaton.

Born August 1, 1819

New York City, New York, U.S.

Died September 28, 1891 (aged 72)

New York City, New York, U.S.

Resting place Woodlawn Cemetery

The Bronx, New York

Occupation Novelist, short story writer, teacher, sailor,

lecturer, poet, customs inspector

Genres Travelogue, captivity narrative, nautical

fiction, gothic romanticism, allegory, tall tale

Literary Romanticism
movement

Spouse Elizabeth Knapp Shaw (1822–1906) (m. 1847)

Children Malcolm (1849–1867)

Stanwix (1851–1886)

Elizabeth (1853–1908)

Frances (1855–1938)

Signature