In both the FAO and USDA soil taxonomy, a vertisol (in Australia, sometimes 'vertosol') is a soil in which there is a high content ofexpansive clay known as montmorillonite that forms deep cracks in drier seasons or years. Alternate shrinking and swelling causesself-mulching, where the soil material consistently mixes itself, causing vertisols to have an extremely deep A horizon and no B horizon. (A soil with no B horizon is called an A/C soil). This heaving of the underlying material to the surface often creates a microrelief known as gilgai.
Vertisols typically form from highly basic rocks, such as basalt, in climates that are seasonally humid or subject to erratic droughtsand floods, or to impeded drainage. Depending on the parent material and the climate, they can range from grey or red to the more familiar deep black (known as "black earths" in Australia, "black gumbo" in East Texas, and "black cotton" soils in East Africa).
Vertisols are found between 50°N and 45°S of the equator. Major areas where vertisols are dominant are eastern Australia (especially inland Queensland and New South Wales), the Deccan Plateau of India, and parts of southern Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Chad (the Gezira), and the lower Paraná River in South America. Other areas where vertisols are dominant include southernTexas and adjacent Mexico, central India, northeast Nigeria, Thrace, New Caledonia and parts of eastern China.
The natural vegetation of vertisols is grassland, savanna, or grassy woodland. The heavy texture and unstable behaviour of the soil makes it difficult for many tree species to grow, and forest is uncommon.
The shrinking and swelling of vertisols can damage buildings and roads, leading to extensive subsidence. Vertisols are generally used for grazing of cattle or sheep. It is not unknown for livestock to be injured through falling into cracks in dry periods. Conversely, many wild and domestic ungulates do not like to move on this soil when inundated. However, the shrink-swell activity allows rapid recovery from compaction.
When irrigation is available, crops such as cotton, wheat, sorghum and rice can be grown. Vertisols are especially suitable for rice because they are almost impermeable when saturated. Rainfed farming is very difficult because vertisols can be worked only under a very narrow range of moisture conditions: they are very hard when dry and very sticky when wet. However, in Australia, vertisols are highly regarded, because they are among the few soils that are not acutely deficient in available phosphorus. Some, known as "crusty vertisols", have a thin, hard crust when dry that can persist for two to three years before they have crumbled enough to permit seeding.
