INCEPTISOL

one of the 12 soil orders in the U.S. Soil Taxonomy. Inceptisols are soils of relatively new origin and are characterized by having only the weakest appearance of horizons, or layers, produced by soil-forming factors. They are the most abundant on Earth, occupying almost 22 percent of all nonpolar continental land area. Their geographic settings vary widely, from river deltas to upland forests to tundra environments. For example, they occur in the Mississippi valley, central Europe, the Amazon region, northeastern India, Indonesia, and Alaska. They are usually arable with appropriate control of erosion or drainage. Inceptisol soil profiles give some indication of clay minerals, metal oxides, or humus accumulating in layers, but such accumulation is not sufficient to classify the soil into an order defined by characteristic surface or subsurface horizons. They commonly are found either with underlying weathering-resistant parent material (for example, quartzite or siliceous sandstone) or in topographic settings conducive to soil erosion or waterlogging. Inceptisols differ from Entisols in that they exhibit more well-developed soil horizons. By definition, however, they may not form on volcanic-ash parent material (reserved for Andisols), develop in an arid climate (reserved for Aridisols), contain permafrost (reserved for Gelisols), or exhibit seasonal cracking and swelling (characteristic of Vertisols).