Soil Structure Development in Pelosols (Vertic Cambisols) of South-West Germany: A Brief Overview

Abstract

The concept of "Pelosol" (Vertic Cambisol) was suggested by Vogel [1] for soils developed from clayey parent rock, typically with a higher (lithogenic) clay content and structural characteristics (pedogenic). Pelosol possesses a strong ability to swell and shrink. Pelosols occur in South-West Germany, mainly on clayey and carbonates containing clayey Keuper and Jurassic rocks. The characteristic process in Pelosols is the transformation of soil structure and not mineral body. Ecologically, in Pelosols air and water regimes as well as rooting are problematic, all of them are structure-dependent in Pelosols. Therefore, structure development in Pelosols of South-West Germany was investigated.