Latosols, also known as tropical red earth, are soils found under
tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equator ...
s which have a relatively high content of
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...
and
aluminium oxides. They are typically classified as
oxisol
Oxisols are a soil order in USDA soil taxonomy, best known for their occurrence in tropical rain forest within 25 degrees north and south of the Equator. In the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB), they belong mainly to the ferralsols, ...
s (
USDA soil taxonomy) or
ferralsols (
World Reference Base for Soil Resources). It is largely correct to say that latosols are tropical soils, but the reverse is not true because there are many soils in the tropics that are not latosolic.
Latosols are red or yellowish-red in colour throughout and they do not have distinct
horizons like a
podsol
In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathland, which is often a construct of ...
. The red colour comes from the
iron oxides in the soil. They are deep soils, often 20-30 m deep whereas podsols are 1-2 m deep.
The soil generally contains a thin but very fertile layer of humus dropped from plants and animals in the forest above, followed by an infertile second layer due to rapid
leaching in the high rainfall. The third level,
weathered
''Weathered'' is the third studio album by American rock band Creed, released on November 20, 2001. It was the last Creed album to be released until '' Full Circle'' came out in October 2009, with Creed disbanding in June 2004. It is the only Cr ...
bedrock, is common to almost all soil types.
The latosol is completely reliant on the rainforest to maintain fertility, as all nutrients leach away quickly when the forest is felled and the layer of humus is no longer being replaced...
See also
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Red Soil
Red soil is a type of soil that typically develops in warm, temperate, and humid climates and comprise approximately 13% of Earth's soils. It contains thin organic and organic-mineral layers of highly leached soil resting on a red layer of alluv ...
References
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{{Soil type
Pedology
Types of soil
Soil science