Characterization of Hungarian Red Soils

Some pedological and micromorphological investigations were carried out on representative red clay samples selected from a large number of profiles. On the basis of conclusions drawn from the analytical results, the red clays can be divided into the following groups: - The red clays of the foothills of the Tokaj Mountains were formed on rhyolite or rhyolite tuff, and are covered by loess in some areas. They are relic soils, older than loess, formed under the warm climate of the Tertiary Period. In addition to quartz they contain feldspars, illite, montmorillonite and a small amount of kaolinite. - The red clays of Aggtelek Karst are Tertiary relic soils formed on Mesozoic limestone. The dominant clay mineral is kaolinite, but they contain a siginificant amount of smectite as well. - The red clays of the Northern periphery of the Hungarian Plain are situated on clay, silt and sand layers of different origin or between loess depositions. They were formed in the Pliocene and at the turn of the Pliocene and Pleistocene. These soils have a medium clay content, with a large quantity of montmorillonite and a small amount of kaolinite. - Red clays formed on Permian sandstones . These rocks were formed in the Permian period, and were issued from a mixture of sediments under tropical climate, tropical weathering. They are the signs of the oldest soil formation in Hungary. They can be characterized by their kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite and hematite contents. - The red clays of the Transdanubian hilly region wereformed by the weathering of thePannonian surface between the end of the Miocene Period and the lower Pleistocene. Medium clay content is characteristic of these red clays. They contain kaolinite, montmorillonite, chlorite and a small amount of hematite. Concerning micromorphological features, speckled and granostriated b-fabrics of the groundmass, mainly due to swelling and shrinking, were observed in some samples. Clay coatings are mainly interpreted as micromorphological features of illuviation. The investigated red clays are similar to tropical and sub-tropical ferrallitic soils in respect of their formation and mineral characteristics.