ROMSO Cyprus Knowledge Base

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In pedology some residual soils are defined red soils, with rich presence of red clay.
The red earth also indicates some terrose varieties of iron oxides (in particular hematitis and goethites) extracted from the above soils and used as coloring pigments (ocra, land of Siena, land of shadow).

Description
The iron compounds present in the soil can exist in various forms (in oxidized form, of red colour, or in oxy-hydrate form, of yellow colour) that change according to environmental conditions, in particular the presence of water.

Red lands are typically found in regions with Mediterranean climate.

Among the most famous and exploited areas for the extraction of ochre pigments since prehistoric times are Cyprus, and the Rossiglione in France. In Italy there are many areas with red lands, such as the karst plateau.

In comparison to the typical clay lands, the red lands have excellent drainage characteristics. Iron oxides that characterize the color of the red earth change shades according to their conditions and it is therefore possible to determine with a certain approximation the degree of drainage of the soil. For example, a yellow-brown soil indicates a well drained soil, while a soil with greyish colour indicates a low drainage. For these reasons, red lands are particularly suitable for the production of wine. In addition to some Italian areas such as Salento, are known the Spanish geographical areas of Mancha and Coonawarra in Australia, where Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah are produced.

In Cyprus, however, the villages located in red ground areas are called Kokkinochoria ("red villages" in Greek) and the lands host crops of vegetables, melons and especially potatoes, which are renowned and also exported.

Notes

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Iron oxide
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Fertilian soil

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