Name
|
Description
|
Distribution
|
Aeronosols
|
Sandy soils, developed from weathering of quartz-rich material or rock. Loamy sandy consistency up to approximately 100 cm depth. Less than 35 % rock fragment. Parent material unconsolidated calcareous or sandstone rocks.
Code: AR
|
Particularly in the northern ephemeral river basin
|
Leptosols
|
Shallow soils found over continuous stony/gravelly rock and soils. Parent materials are various, with fine earth volumes of less than 20 %.
Code: LP
|
Lower Orange and Senqu river Basin. |
Cambisols
|
are weakly or moderately developed soils found mainly in temperate regions, but do occur all over the world, commonly on Pleistocene or other parent rock material
Code: CB
|
Dominant in the vall and upper orange river basins. |
Luvisols
|
Soils with a higher clay content in the lower horizons, that the upper horizons. Wide variety of different parent material types, including glacial, aeolian (wind-blown), alluvial (water-borne) or colluvial (gravity) deposits.
Code: LV
|
Senqu and Vaal river basins. |
Calsisols
|
are well-drained soils with fine to medium texture and an accumulation of secondary calcium carbonates, making them quite fertile. They are often used for grazing pasture.
Code: CL
|
Vaal and ephemeral river basins. |
Lixisols
|
Lixisols comprise soils that have a higher clay content in the subsoil than in the topsoil as a result of pedogenetic processes (especially clay migration) leading to an argic subsoil
horizon
|
Dominant in the Vaal river basin. |
Regosols
|
A group of Weakly developed mineral soils originating fromunconsolidated material that do not conform to other classes.
Code: RG |
Ephemeral and lower orange rive basins. |
Vertisols
|
Heavy, churning (internally moving) clay soils that include clay minerals that swell with water, resulting in large cracks when dry.
Code: VR |
Vaal river Basin. |
Solonchaks
|
Solonchaks are soils that have a high concentration of soluble salts at some time in
the year. Solonchaks are largely confined to the arid and semi-arid climate zones
|
sparse distribution in all the basins of the oramge except for th vaal basin. |
Acrisols
|
Soils with higher clay content in the subsurface than upper portions. Parent materials include strongly weathered acidrocks and weathered clays that are degrading. .
Code: AC |
Ephemeral rivers and the vaal river basin. |
Plinthosols
|
Plinthosols are soils with plinthite, petroplinthite or pisoliths. Plinthite is humus-poor mixture of kaolinitic clay (and other productsof strong weathering such as gibbsite) with quartz.
Code:PT
|
Found in the Vaal river basin. |
Solontz
|
Solonetz are soils with a dense, strongly structured, clayey subsurface horizon that have a high proportion of adsorbed Na and/or Mg ions
Code: SL.
|
Senqu and Vaal river Basins. |
Phaeozoms
|
Phaeozems accommodate soils of relatively wet grassland and forest regions in moderately continental climates.
Code: PZ
|
Senqu and Vaal river basins. |
Planosols
|
Planosols are soils with a light-coloured, surface horizon that shows signs of periodic water stagnation.
Code: PL
|
Senqu and Vaal river basins. |
Fluvisols
|
Fluvisols accommodate genetically young, azonal soils in alluvial deposits
Code: FL
|
Upper Orange River Basin. |
Ferrasols
|
Ferralsols represent the classical, deeply weathered, red or yellow soils of the humid tropics.
Code: FR
|
Vaal Basin. |
Nitisols |
Nitisols are deep, well-drained, red, tropical soils. more than 30 percent clay and moderate to strong angular blocky structure elements that easily fall apart into characteristic shiny, polyhedric (nutty) element.
Code: NT
|
Vaal River Basin |