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Soils of the Lagoa Santa Karst

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Lagoa Santa Karst: Brazil's Iconic Karst Region

Part of the book series: Cave and Karst Systems of the World ((CAKASYWO))

Abstract

Red Latosols are the predominant soil type in the Lagoa Santa Karst High Plains and they can be up to 10 m deep on the high and middle slopes. Representative profiles of the soils have been described morphologically and micro-morphological, granulometrical and chemical analyses have been conducted. Two horizon groups were repeatedly identified in the surveyed toposequences: an upper red horizon and a lower yellow one. In both cases, the granulometric analysis revealed the predominance of a highly clay-like texture. Chemical analyses showed that the soils are acid with a low permeable base totals (S) and low cationic exchange capacity (CEC), indicating soils pedogenetically well evolved. That is corroborated by the Ki relations indicating the presence of kaolinite and therefore a process of mono-sialitization (secondary silicate formation) typical of tropical climates. The source material of both the red and the yellow horizons was correlated to meta-siltites and meta-argillites of the Serra de Santa Helena Formation deposited over limestones of the Bambuí Group. It can be concluded that the karst modeling of the Lagoa Santa Karst High Plains evolved due to a set of inter-relations between the epikarst, the surface karst and the underground karst with various pieces of evidence reinforcing the idea of a connected system in which the soil cover plays a major role.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto do Carste e Grupo Bambuí de Pesquisas Espeleológicas, Rua Conselheiro Mata 35/301, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, 31010-510, Brazil

    Luís B. Piló

  2. Department of Soil Science, Superior School of Agriculture Luiz de Queiroz, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Selma Simões de Castro

Authors
  1. Luís B. Piló
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  2. Selma Simões de Castro
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Correspondence to Luís B. Piló .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto do Carste, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Augusto S. Auler

  2. Instituto do Carste, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Paulo Pessoa

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Piló, L.B., de Castro, S.S. (2020). Soils of the Lagoa Santa Karst. In: S. Auler, A., Pessoa, P. (eds) Lagoa Santa Karst: Brazil's Iconic Karst Region. Cave and Karst Systems of the World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35940-9_6

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