Maui's Soils

The island of Maui has many different types of soil. Soils from Andisol, Aridisol, Histosol, Inceptisol, Mollisol, Oxisol, and Ultisol. The picture below shows the locations of where the soils are at on Maui.

Image courtesy of http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/mauisoil/images/SoilOrders_Maui.jpg

The majority of the island's soil is Andisol which is Volcanic ash soils (Dr. Allen 2012). Volcanic Soils are formed from the volcanic ash and cinder deposits. While most of the world's volcanic soils are not highly weathered, there are exceptions on Maui. The volcanic soil largely consist of non-crystalline minerals, such as allophone and imogolite. The minerals create strong bonds with organic matter resulting for the matter to generally accumulate the surface horizon. Andisols are usually light and fluffy and are easily tilled. This soil holds a lot of water just like a sponge. Some Andisols can be found in Hana which is located on the windward East side of Maui which occupies approximately 8,000 acres. The soil is located around sea level and 1,200 ft. The Hana Series was created from volcanic ash that was deposited over cinders and `a`a lava flows. The soil profile may extend from 27 to 40 inches. 

Andisol in Hana, Image courtesy of http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/mauisoil/images/volcanic.jpg

 

Another soil that I will talk about in this blog is the Oxisol. It is the most highly weathered soil order. This soil is made from year-round hot tropical, moist climates. The soil layers contain clay particles and is loaded with hydrous oxides or aluminum and iron. Oxisol can be mainly found in Lahaina, where they grow pineapples and irrigated cane sugar.

Picture of Lahaina courtesy of http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/mauisoil/images/Lahaina_Maui.jpg 

Located on West Maui occupies 21,000 acres with elevations ranging from 10 to 1,500 ft. Oxisol was formed here from basic igneous rock with alluvial deposits. It may contain fragments of coral, sand, and gravel. Lahaina's Oxisol is very different from the other world's Oxisol in that it can sufficiently supply plant nutrients, although, irrigation is required. As I mentioned earlier it is used for Pineapple and irrigated Sugarcane. The Lahaina Series Oxisol is acidic, and is not as fertile as less weathered soils, it still provides base cation nutrients unlike many highly weathered soils.

Lahaina Oxisol courtesy of http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/mauisoil/images/oxisol2.jpg

Sources: Dr. Casey Allen,  http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/mauisoil/b_oxisol.aspx,  http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/mauisoil/b_andisol.aspx