Why is the soil bright red in the tropics? (3 photos)

In photographs and films, you can see that in countries Central Africa amazing shade of soil. She is bright red.





Through the grass, in the desert places, in the gaps between the trees in forest, you can see the unusual color of the earth, more reminiscent of martian landscapes. The same color is found in other southern regions in − parts of the provinces of China, in India. There is a small area of ​​this color in Russia - along the Black Sea coast of the country.

I would even like to suspect the authors of the pictures in using Photoshop.

The earth really has this color in these regions everywhere - both in open places and under grass, trees.

Why is the ground there such a glowing color?

The appearance of the soil is very different in different parts of the world.

The inhabitants of Russia know about the Chernozem region, literally nicknamed so for soil color, pale soils of sandy regions, dark brown in the taiga.

The bright regions of Africa, India and China are similarly called red earth. Science has assigned a special term to them - feralite soils.



Ferralite soil

The soil is not an independent entity. She is the product of the entire ecosystem, the product of the landscape, fauna and flora terrain.

Each type of soil corresponds to certain conditions.

Where they match, the color of the earth will be the same.

What can make it bright red?

In the formation of ferralitic soils, the most important role is played by underlying rocks - that is, a solid foundation, hidden deep under a loose fertile top layer.

But after all, there is a stone litter of various composition everywhere. And it has been in contact with the soil for millions of years.

Why is the soil painted red only in the southern regions - in the tropics and subtropics?

In order for the earth to turn red, two factors are needed - heat and water.

In the tropics and subtropics, there is a lot of precipitation - about 3000 and 1000 mm per year, respectively.

In warm climates, water seeps into the lower layers of the soil constantly and deeply - without a break for the winter and without an obstacle in the form of freezing layer.

So precipitation reaches the level of the underlying rocks and actively influence them. Year after year, millions of years contract.

Flora is lush in warm and humid climates. Leaves and then themselves plants are constantly decomposing in the soil. The abundance of organic matter makes the soil acidified.



With precipitation, acids seep to the underlying rocks. And a chemical reaction begins, as a result of which many iron oxide and some other metals enter.

Oxides have a bright red color that is easy to see on any unpainted metal object. This is a shade of rust.

It is he who gives ferralitic soils their original appearance.

If a full-flowing river flows in the same area, collecting groundwater, it will also have a red tint.