View source for Aridisol

{{Short description|Dry soil}}
{{more footnotes|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox soil
|name=Aridisol
|alternative_name=
|image=Aridisol profile.jpg
|image_size=250px
|image_caption=an aridisol profile
|classification_system=[[USDA soil taxonomy]]
|profile=
|parent_material=
|code=
|process=[[soil carbon]] [[redox|oxidation]]
|climate=[[desert climate|desert]], [[semi-arid climate|semi-arid]]
}}

'''Aridisols''' (or '''desert soils''') are a soil order in [[USDA soil taxonomy]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/natural-resource-concerns/soil/soil-science | title =Aridisols | publisher=USDA-NRCS | access-date=2006-05-14 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509223112/http://soils.usda.gov/technical/classification/orders/aridisols.html| archive-date=9 May 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref> Aridisols (from the Latin ''aridus'', for "dry", and ''solum'') form in an arid or semi-arid climate.  Aridisols dominate the [[deserts and xeric shrublands]], which occupy about one-third of the Earth's land surface. Aridisols have a very low concentration of [[organic matter]], reflecting the paucity of vegetative production on these dry soils.  
Water deficiency is the central defining characteristic of Aridisols. Also required is sufficient age to exhibit [[subsoil]] weathering and development. Limited leaching in aridisols often results in one or more subsurface soil horizons in which suspended or dissolved minerals have been deposited: silicate clays, sodium, calcium carbonate, gypsum, or soluble salts. These subsoil horizons can also be [[cementation (geology)|cemented]] by carbonates, gypsum, or silica. Accumulation of salts on the surface can result in [[Soil salinity|salinization]].

In the [[World Reference Base for Soil Resources]] (WRB), most Aridisols belong to the [[Calcisol]]s, [[Gypsisol]]s, [[Durisol]]s and [[Solonchak]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.fao.org/3/i3794en/I3794en.pdf|title = World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014, Update 2015|author=IUSS Working Group WRB|year = 2015|publisher = World Soil Resources Reports 106, FAO, Rome}}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed heights=100px>
AridisolWorld.jpg|Aridisols of the world
Libyen-oase1.jpg|Some Aridisols are found in [[Oasis|oases]]
Baskunchak.JPG|Other Aridisols are observed in areas where the [[steppe]] passes into the [[Semi-arid climate|semi-desert]], such as in the lower [[Volga]] region
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Desert ecology]]
* [[Pedogenesis]]
* [[Pedology]]
* [[Soil classification]]
* [[Soil science]]
* [[Soil type]]
* [[Calcid]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite web|url=http://grunwald.ifas.ufl.edu/Nat_resources/soil_orders/aridisols.htm |title=Aridisols |publisher=University of Florida |access-date=2006-05-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060916044132/http://grunwald.ifas.ufl.edu/Nat_resources/soil_orders/aridisols.htm |archive-date=September 16, 2006 }}
* {{cite web | url =http://soils.ag.uidaho.edu/soilorders/aridisols.htm | title =Aridisols | publisher =University of Idaho | access-date =2006-05-14 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20060901063755/http://soils.ag.uidaho.edu/soilorders/aridisols.htm | archive-date =2006-09-01 | url-status =dead }}

{{Soil type}}

[[Category:Pedology]]
[[Category:Types of soil]]