KAOLISOL

soil that is formed under the heat and heavy rainfall of the tropics, which leaches out the silica and the bases. Thus, the soil is silica-poor; highly weathered, sometimes to a depth of many metres and therefore poor in weatherable minerals; rich in iron, which is released by weathering, is not bound to the clay, and forms concretions that are often large and abundant; and very permeable, because the clay minerals formed do not swell when wet and thus interfere with permeation. The clay content often increases with depth because of the accumulation of clay minerals transported by water from the upper layers and because of the permeability of the soil. The cation-exchange capacity, or the ability of a charged metal atom in the structure to exchange places with another in aqueous solution, is low. Once formed, kaolisols may subsequently become the parent material for new soils.