1. Soil Order: Inceptisols
By: Stephanie Nielsen

2. What are Inceptisols? Latin word inceptum meaning “beginning”
Immature (young) soils
Show minimal horizon development
Have little clay, aluminum or iron oxide, or humus
More developed and older than entisols
Widely spread across many different ecological settings & climates
Humid and subhumid regions
Arable, decent drainage and erosion control

4. Inceptisols.. Make up 9.7% of US land area
Supports around 20% of the world's population
Largest of any soil orders
15% of global ice-free land area, only entisols are greater

5. Where are Inceptisols found?
Distributed globally across many climates
Found on:
Steep slopes, mountains
Young geomorphic surfaces susceptible to weathering
Resistant parent materials
Found in:
Alaska
Pacific Northwest
Central Europe
Throughout SA & Amazon
Africa
India & other parts of Asia

8. Inceptisol Suborders:
Anthrepts: Soil modified by farming & human habitation.
Aquepts: Wet Inceptisols, poor natural drainage. Water table at or near surface of soil some parts of the year. Used for cropland, pasture, and forests.
Cryepts: Cold Inceptisols, found on high mountains and at high latitudes. High mountains of the West and Southern Alaska, grows mix of conifers and hardwood. Used as forest or cropland.
Udepts: Freely drained former forest soils. Udic (subhumid to humid) or Perudic (Saturated with water, low oxygen). Can be used for agriculture or forest. Appalachian mountains, NE Minnesota.
Ustepts: Freely drained, ustic (semi arid) moisture regime. Great plains. Cropland.
Xerepts: Freely drained xeric (wet winter dry summer) moisture regime.

9. Diagnostic horizons if present
Horizons just beginning to appear with slight color differences between them.
Beginnings of a B horizon
Umbric or Ochric epipedon
Thick, dark, organic matter
May have cambic subsurface horizon
No illuvial horizon

10. Inceptisols Around the World

11. Sources: https://www.uidaho.edu/cals/soil-orders/inceptisols
xto=14