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World’s Soil Resources

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8 | <strong>Soil</strong>s with little or no profile development<br />

These soils have little or no profile development due to age, parent material, soil depth, transport, or<br />

deposition.<br />

CAMBISOLS (Inceptisols)<br />

Cambisols are young soils with beginning subsurface soil development. Characteristics that are more<br />

easily modified include structure, colour and bulk density. Structure begins to develop as wetting and drying<br />

cycles occur. Colour is modified through additions and removals such as carbonates and silica. Bulk density<br />

decreases as elements are weathered and organisms create voids. Typical soil horizonation is A-Bw-C<br />

(Figure A 30).<br />

Cambisols are found in a wide range of climates, in all vegetation types, and level to steep reliefs. The<br />

typical parent material is medium and fine-textured, derived from a wide range of rocks, mostly in colluvial,<br />

alluvial or aeolian deposits. Cambisols form in almost all environments except permafrost.<br />

The spatial distribution of Cambisols is estimated to be 1 500 million ha worldwide. Countries with<br />

more than 50 million ha are Russia, China, Canada and India. Cambisols are the dominant soil in San<br />

Marino, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Jersey, Fiji, Belize, Italy, Luxembourg,<br />

Samoa, Guernsey, Anguilla, Czech Republic, Georgia, Haiti, American Samoa, Solomon Islands, Bosnia and<br />

Herzegovina, and New Zealand.<br />

Status of the <strong>World’s</strong> <strong>Soil</strong> <strong>Resources</strong> | Main Report Annex | <strong>Soil</strong> groups, characteristics,<br />

585<br />

distribution and ecosystem services

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