A map illustrates major soil orders worldwide including ultisols, aridisols, histosols, entisols, rocky land, alfisols, shifting sand, spodosols, gelisols, inceptisols, oxisols, andisols, vertisols, mollisols, and ice/glacier.
Areas shaded in various colors represent major soil orders globally. Ultisols (yellow) are found in the eastern United States, parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia. Aridisols (green) dominate desert regions such as the southwestern United States, northern Africa (Sahara), and parts of Central Asia. Other regions include southern parts of South America and parts of Australia. Histosols (light green) are found in parts of Canada, northern Europe, and Russia. Entisols (light green) are scattered globally in areas like western North America, parts of South America, Africa, and Asia. Rocky Land (very light gray) is found in mountainous regions like the Rockies in North America, the Andes in South America, and part of central Asia. Alfisols (light gray) are found in parts of the United States, Europe, Africa, India, and Australia. Shifting Sand (gray) appears in desert regions such as the Sahara and central Australia. Other regions include parts of Saudi Arabia, China, and Uzbekistan. Spodosols (blue gray) cover most of Canada and parts of Europe such as Sweden. Gelisols (light blue) dominate northern regions of Canada and Russia. Other regions include parts of China. Inceptisols (blue) appear in regions such as Alaska, parts of Canada, Europe, and scattered across Russia, South Africa, and Asia. Oxisols (dark gray) are prevalent in tropical regions like the Amazon Basin in South America and parts of Southeast Asia. Other regions include parts of Africa. Andisols (blue) are found in volcanic regions like parts of the Pacific Northwest in the United States, parts of Mexico and Chile. Vertisols (light green) are found in regions such as India, parts of Africa, and eastern Australia. Other regions include eastern parts of Mexico and parts of Uruguay. Mollisols (maroon) cover the central plains of the United States, parts of South America, and Eastern Europe. Ice slash Glacier (blue) covers Greenland and parts of Arctic.
Major Soil Orders | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ultisols | Aridisols | Histosols | Entisols | Rocky Land | Alfisols | Shifting Sand | Spodosols | Gelisols | Inceptisols | Oxisols | Andisols | Vertisols | Mollisols | Ice/Glacier | |
| 3.27% | 5.43% | 3.00% | 6.11% | 7.09% | 1.42% | ||||||||||
| 12.3% | 25.5% | 5.63% | 46.7% | 5.28% | |||||||||||
| 25.7% | 5.83% | 17.6% | 2.06% | 7.96% | 3.13% | 5.47% | 2.25% | ||||||||
| 13.1% | 6.63% | 3.78% | 1.16% | 1.48% | 5.78% | 11.4% | 5.15% | ||||||||
| 59.3% | 27.6% | 1.61% | 1.13% | 4.53% | 1.03% | 1.49% | 7.44% | ||||||||
| 1.22% | 17.5% | 10.4% | 23.5% | 21.9% | 2.45% | 18.1% | 9.14% | 9.73% | 3.54% | 27.4% | 14.4% | ||||
| 6.86% | 1.74% | 2.74% | 3.69% | 3.57% | 1.85% | 6.40% | 5.37% | 7.39% | 2.40% | 2.25% | 4.06% | ||||
| 38.2% | 1.40% | 48.8% | 19.7% | 28.9% | 1.34% | 49.9% | 68.9% | ||||||||
| 7.34% | 2.17% | 1.20% | 2.52% | 2.85% | 1.17% | 1.12% | 8.76% | 1.80% | 4.62% | 4.79% | 2.62% | ||||
| 2.64% | 9.09% | 10.6% | 4.14% | 7.39% | 6.03% | 2.64% | 4.60% | 2.24% | |||||||
| 27.0% | 1.63% | 5.21% | 2.88% | 2.54% | 1.24% | 5.75% | 1.30% | 1.40% | |||||||
| 2.59% | 16.1% | 7.50% | 2.53% | 3.91% | 5.47% | 5.13% | 1.72% | 4.88% | |||||||
| 8.69% | 11.4% | 6.09% | 3.14% | 12.1% | 11.9% | 8.48% | 18.6% | 1.72% | 8.23% | ||||||