Factors Influencing the Development of Lateritic and Laterite Soils 
in the Hawaiian Islands 1 
G. Donald Sherman 2 
The parent materials of the soil of the 
Hawaiian Islands have weathered under climatic 
conditions which are favorable for the develop- 
ment of lateritic and laterite soils, Cline (in 
press), in his classification of Hawaiian soils, 
has recognized the following four groups of 
lateritic and laterite soils: (a) low humic 
latosols — -a group of soils which have developed 
in regions having a rainfall ranging from 15 to 
80 inches. These soils have silica to sesquioxide 
ratios varying from 1.3 to 1.8; (b) humic 
latosols — this group of soils has developed in 
areas having a rainfall from 60 to 150 inches. 
These soils have developed silica to sesquioxide 
ratios varying from 0.5 to 0.8; (c) hydrol humic 
latosols — these soils are found in the regions 
receiving a very heavy rainfall, 120 to 300 
inches. The silica to sesquioxide ratios of this 
group of soils vary from 0.3 to 0.6; and (d) 
ferruginous humic latosols — soils belonging to 
this group have a concentration of heavy min- 
erals in the A 9 horizon. These soils have de- 
veloped in regions receiving a relatively wide 
range of rainfall, 25 to 150 inches. The silica 
to sesquioxide ratios of these soils show great 
variation, ranging from 0.05 to 1.0. 
Each group of soils possesses clays which 
have distinct and definite chemical properties 
and these properties were used as a basis for 
the classification of lateritic soils into the four 
groups. Since each group of these soils occurs 
in regions having different climatic conditions, 
it is likely that climate plays a major role in 
development. Since the geological ages of the 
1 Published with the approval of the Director of the 
University of Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station, 
Honolulu, T. H., as Technical Paper No. 179. 
2 Department of Soils and Agricultural Chemistry, 
University of Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Sta- 
tion. Manuscript received May 9, 1949. 
parent materials vary greatly, the time of ex- 
posure of the parent material to soil-forming 
processes will also have had a major effect on 
soil development. Due to the great variation of 
the age of the soil parent material, and the 
great variation in climate due to the effects 
of elevation and trade winds on temperatures 
and rainfall regions, a very complex pattern of 
soil development has resulted. It is the object 
of this paper to consider the effects of climate 
and age on the development of lateritic and 
laterite soils in the Hawaiian Islands. 
REVIEW OF LITERATURE 
Most of the research work involving Hawai- 
ian soils has had for its objective the solution 
of agronomic problems. Kelley and his co- 
workers (1912, 1914, 1915) have published 
several papers on the general chemical com- 
position of certain Hawaiian soils. Moir ( 1935 ) , 
in reviewing the work on chemical composition, 
has concluded that Hawaiian soils have lost a 
large portion of their silica. 
More recently, Hough and Byers (1937) 
have reported data from a very complete chem- 
ical analysis of soils from seven Hawaiian soil 
profiles. These workers pointed out the very 
uniform composition of the profiles of the red 
soils (low humic latosols) and suggested that 
the clay of these soils was of the kaolinite type. 
Their data also revealed an unusually high titan- 
ium oxide content. Later Hough et al. (1941) 
reported the chemical composition of 21 soil 
profiles which were selected to range in length of 
time of weathering from very recent to very old. 
From the data obtained, these workers suggested 
that Hawaiian soils were the products of the 
soil-forming process called podsolization, and 
were, therefore, podsolic. They based their 
hypothesis on the following points: first, the 
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