Colluvic material (WRB)

Colluvic material is one of the diagnostic materials used, in the WRB system, to discriminate some soils from others.

Description

Colluvic material (from Latin colluvio, mixture) is formed by sedimentation through human-induced erosion. It normally accumulates in foot slope positions, in depressions or above hedge walls. The erosion may have taken place since Neolithic times.

Field identification

The upper part of the colluvic material shows characteristics (texture, colour, pH and organic carbon content) similar to the surface layer of the source in the neighbourhood. Many colluvic materials have artefacts such as pieces of bricks, ceramics and glass. Stratification is common although not always easily detectable, and many colluvic materials have a lithological discontinuity at their base.

See also

• The FAO reference text, (2007 version)