Ultisol, one of the 12 soil orders in the U.S. Soil Taxonomy. Ultisols are reddish, clay-rich, acidic soils that support a mixed forest vegetation prior to cultivation. They are naturally suitable for forestry, can be made agriculturally productive with the application of lime and fertilizers, and are stable materials for construction projects. Occupying just over 8 percent of the nonpolar continental land area on Earth, they are found in humid temperate or tropical regions, including the southeastern United States and China, and in the humid tropics in South America and Africa.
Ultisols are found in geologically old landscape settings. They are characterized by a humus-rich surface horizon (the uppermost layer), by a layer of clay that has migrated below the surface horizon, and by a nutrient content low in available calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium. The well-developed, extensively leached soil horizons are enriched in kaolin-group clay minerals and in metal oxides and appear as red or bleached layers.
Ultisols differ from Alfisols by their few mineral nutrients and high content of aluminum. They differ from Oxisols by the lack—or sometimes deep displacement—of a horizon enriched in aluminum and iron oxides and in kaolin clay minerals.