Podzols

Podzols mainly occur in cool temperate and moist regions on coarse textured materials. Areas of Podzols have also been recorded from wet, tropical regions, notably the Amazon basin, southern central Africa and southeast Asia.

Characteristics

Soils having a spodic horizon (a dark coloured subsurface horizon with illuvial amorphous alumino-organic substances) within 200 cm from the soil surface, underlying an albic, histic, umbric or ochric horizon, or an anthropedogenic horizon less than 50 cm thick.

Podzols are probably the most extensively researched group of soils.

Normal Podzol from Ireland with a pronounced white eluvial horizon and separate illuvial humus and iron B horizons below

(Haplic Podzol; ISRIC reference soil IE 002)

Tropical Podzol from Malaysia with a strongly cemented humus pan in the B horizon (Carbi-Densic Podzol; ISRIC reference soil MY 051)

Podzol from Ireland with a placic horizon at the transition of the illuvial humus and iron B horizons (Placic Podzol; ISRIC reference soil IE 009)Podzol from Ireland with a placic horizon at the transition of the illuvial humus and iron B horizons (Placic Podzol; ISRIC reference soil IE 009)