A complete explanation of the intended meaning of a concept
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Plinthosols are soils with plinthite, petroplinthite or pisoliths. Plinthite is a Fe-rich (in some cases also Mn-rich), humus-poor mixture of kaolinitic clay (and other products of strong weathering such as gibbsite) with quartz and other constituents. It usually changes irreversibly to a layer with hard concretions or nodules or to a hardpan on exposure to repeated wetting and drying. Petroplinthite is a continuous or fractured sheet of connected, strongly cemented to indurated concretions or nodules or concentrations in platy, polygonal or reticulate patterns. Pisoliths are discrete, strongly cemented to indurated concretions or nodules. Both petroplinthite and pisoliths develop from plinthite by hardening. Traditional names are Groundwater Laterite Soils and Perched Water Laterite Soils. Many of these soils are known as Plintossolos (Brazil), Sols gris latéritiques (France), Petroferric Kandosols (Australia) and Plinthaquox, Plinthaqualfs, Plinthoxeralfs, Plinthustalfs, Plinthaquults, Plinthohumults, Plinthudults and Plinthustults (United States of America).
Terms for the concept in other languages.
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http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_309e7c25
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Created 1/20/20, 11:57 AM, last modified 12/18/25, 11:34 AM