c.  Ferric iron (Fe⁺³) -

     d.  Ferrous iron (Fe⁺²) - greenish/blue = gleyed colors

II.  Description of soil color

    a.  Soil color is described using the Munsell color system.  There are three parts to the complete color designation; the hue, value, and chroma.

        i.  Hue defines the dominant spectral color

        ii.  Value indicates the lightness or darkness of a color

        iii.  Chroma is a measure of the brightness or intensity of a color

The hue, value, and chroma can each be found on the pages of a Munsell color book.

When describing soil color, soil is held up to and matched with a chip in the Munsell color book.  The color is given an alpha-numerical value and a written name.  For example, if a soil color matches the chip circled below, the color would have a hue of 10YR (from the upper rt. hand corner of the page), a value of 4 (left side of page), and a chroma of 2 (bottom of page).  The Munsell designation is always written in the format of hue value/chroma.  On the page facing the color chips (not shown) in the Munsell book, the written name of the color will be given.  For example, 10YR 4/2 is dark brown.