This data article presents a harmonised dataset comprising morphological field descriptions and physicochemical characterisations for 83 georeferenced soil profiles (282 genetic horizons) from the tropical and volcanic island of Réunion. In order to cover a wide pedogenetic gradient, most sites were sampled in a contrasting reference area in the western part of the island. This approach was adopted in order to document variability and transitions over short distances. Field descriptions and horizon identification followed FAO/WRB guidelines, and soils were classified according to the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB, 4th edition) by cross-referencing diagnostic horizons, properties, and materials with analytical results. Routine measurements include chemical properties (organic carbon, total nitrogen, pH water and pH KCl, cation exchange capacity, exchangeable bases, and exchangeable Al), targeted indicators (phosphate retention), physical properties (bulk density and particle size distribution). Furthermore, selective extractions of iron, aluminium, and silicon were performed with dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate, acid ammonium oxalate, and sodium pyrophosphate. The dataset is provided in the form of a single UTF-8 CSV file (282 rows, 42 variables) containing morphological descriptions and raw analytical values. Representative field photographs of soil profiles for each WRB Reference Soil Group are included as a supplementary PDF file. It can be reused to analyse pedogenetic evolution trajectories, calculate weathering indices, and ratios derived from selective extractions to distinguish short-range-order minerals from crystalline oxides, and quantify organometallic complexes. It is valuable for the parameterisation or benchmarking of soil organic carbon models, the development of pedotransfer functions specific to tropical environments, and the support of digital soil mapping workflows and meta-analyses in volcanic and tropical regions.
Frédéric Feder (Fri,) studied this question.