Mollisols in the islands of the South-West Pacific: Occurrence, land uses and classification

Mollisols are naturally fertile soils with a thick, friable, very dark coloured, organic rich, surface layer (mollic epipedon). Soils literature for 20 South Pacific island countries was examined for information on Mollisols; of these countries, 16 had confirmed Mollisols. Given the basic concept of Mollisols (continental grassland soils), this was an unexpected prevalence. Classifications using the USDA Soil Taxonomy identified 4 suborders, 10...