Siliceous soil
Siliceous soils are formed from rocks that have silica (SiO2) as a principal constituent. The parent material of siliceous soils may include quartz sands, chert, quartzite, quartz reefs, granite, rhyolite, ademellite, dellenite, quartz sandstone, quartz siltstone, siliceous tuff, among others.{{cite conference |last1=Gray |first1=Jonathan |last2=Murphy |first2=Brian |title=Parent material and world soil distribution |conference=World Congress of Soil Science|year=2002|location=Thailand|citeseerx=10.1.1.3.2975 }} These parent materials sometimes originate from silica-secreting organisms such as radiolarians, diatoms, or some types of sponges.{{cite book|last1=Schumann|first1=Walter|title=Handbook of Rocks, Minerals, and Gemstones|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year=1993|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLTzSUV5FCIC|isbn=978-0395511374}}
Characteristics
Soils high in siliceous parent material typically have:
- lower cation-exchange capacity,
- higher susceptibility to external sources of sodium,
- lower buffering potential,
- higher acidity, and
- higher erodibility
Agriculture
Siliceous soils in vineyard soils have been linked to larger grapes with increased tannin content.Conte, M., Rossini, L., Tiberi, M., Montanari, A. (2006). Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi vs Verdicchio di Matelica: Geomorphological control of two white wines of the Marche region (northeastern Apennines, Italy). Bollettino Della Società Geologica Italiana E Del Servizio Geologico D'Italia, 6, 41-48.Burns S. (2012) The Importance of Soil and Geology in Tasting Terroir with a Case History from the Willamette Valley, Oregon. In: Dougherty P. (Eds.), The Geography of Wine (pp. 95-108). Springer, Dordrecht.