From the Soil Micromorphology Slide Collection

Description of slide: Spheroidal and ovoid pellets in the nursery part of M. subhyalinus mound. The individual pellets, made by termites, vary in size (125-750 pm) and were used to construct the mounds. The lighter colored pellets (may be oral) contain somewhat more clay than the darker pellets of similar size. The pellets are made of primary microaggregates, typical for Oxisols. Pores consist of vughs and inteconnected vughs with short skew planes within the larger pellets. The matrix is very dense. Packing of skeleton grains and plasma was verified by scanning electron microscope.

Data for the horizon
Horizon sampled: Mixture of the A and B horizons
Depth sampled: 105-125 cm
Physical and chemical data available: Particle size distribution: 31 % sand, 12% silt, and 57% clay; pH 5.9; organic carbon 0.89%; volume of pores that are larger than about 1 2 urn diameter is about 7% of sample volume. See reference for more information.
Micromorphological description of horizon: See reference

Data for thin section
Preparation of sample: Air dry
Impregnating medium: Vestopal-1 50
Thickness of section: 25 µm

Soil Classification
F.A.O.: Chromic Luvisol

Elevation: 1625 m
Parent material: Precambrian gneiss, schists, granulites
Soil climatic data and/or soil water balance: Mean annual temperature 21 o c; mean annual precipitation 460 mm
Vegetation: Bush grassland

Data for 35-mm slide
Frame length: See bar scale on slide
Light mode: Plane polarized

Mermut, A. R. , M. A. Arshad, and R. J. St. Arnaud. 1984. Micropedological study of termite mounds of three species of macrotermes in Kenya. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 48: 613-620.
Source - A. R. Mermut

Slide BF20. Soil Science Society of America, 1993. A Reference Slide Collection for Soil Micromorphology. SSSA, Madison, WI.