Red Mediterranean soil

In pedology, red Mediterranean soil, also known as terra rossa is a soil classification that has been formally superseded by the formal classifications of systems such as the FAO soil classification, but that is still in common use. Pedology (from Greek πέδον pedon, "soil" and λόγος logos, "study" is the study of soils in their natural environment Soil classification deals with the systematic categorization of Soils based on distinguishing characteristics as well as criteria that dictate choices in use The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO developed a supra-national classification also called World Soil Classification, which offers useful generalizations The terra rossa classification was still, as of 1997, a part of the national soil classifications of countries such as Israel and Italy. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The UNESCO/FAO World map equivalents are the chromic luvisols (a sub-order of the luvisols), and the USDA soil taxonomy equivalent is the rhodustalfs (a sub-order of the ustalfs). United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 USDA Soil Taxonomy developed by United States Department of Agriculture and the National Cooperative Soil Survey provides an elaborate classification of ^[1]

The classification denotes red-coloured soils (sometimes called "red rendzinas") that develop in or on the karstic landscape of the limestones of the Miocene and earlier periods, as well as calcretes in regions where the modern Mediterranean climate is predominant. Rendzina is a dark grayish-brown Humus -rich Soil. It is one of the soils most closely associated with the Bedrock type and an example of initial stages Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble Bedrock, usually Carbonate rock such as Limestone Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene period and extends from about 23 Caliche is a hardened deposit of Calcium carbonate. This calcium carbonate cements together other materials including gravel sand clay and silt A Mediterranean climate is one that resembles the Climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, which includes over half of the area with this climate type world-wide Red Mediterranean soils developed most vigorously from the Miocene to the Late Pleistocene, because those that the periods where the climate fluctuated the most. The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene period and extends from about 23 The Late Pleistocene (also known as Upper Pleistocene or the Tarantian) is a stage of the Pleistocene Epoch. ^[2]^[3]

Terra rossa occurs in areas where heavy rainfall causes carbonation out of the calcium carbonate parent rock and silicates are leached out of the soil to leave residual deposits that are rich in iron hydroxides, the cause of the red colour. Calcium carbonate is a Chemical compound with the Chemical formula Ca[[Carbon C]] O 3 For the Artificial intelligence Androids of the 1990s Science fiction series Space Above and Beyond, see Silicate (AI Altogether there are sixteen known Iron Oxides and oxyhydroxides Such areas are usually depressions within the limestone, or areas where the vegetation is garrigue. Garrigue is a type of low soft-leaved Scrubland found on limestone soils around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast where the climate is ameliorated ^[3]^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Harriet D. Allen (2001). Mediterranean Ecogeography. Pearson Education, 79–81. ISBN 0582404525.
^ I. Atalay (1998). "Paleoenvironmental conditions of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene in Anatolia, Turkey". A. S. Alsharhan, K. W. Glennie, G. L. Whittle, and C. G. St. C. Kendall Quaternary Deserts & Climatic Change: Proceedings of an International conference on Quaternary Deserts and Climatic Change at Al Ain, UAE, December 9–11, 1995: 229, Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9054105976.
^ ^a ^b David Waugh (2000). Geography: An Integrated Approach. Nelson Thornes, 274. ISBN 017444706X.

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