Soils of the Pampean Region

Pampean landscapes are characterized by the presence ofextensive plains originally covered by grasslands. At present,rainfed production of cereal and oil crops is the maineconomic farming activity of the region and constitutes ahigh proportion of Argentina exports. The most fertile soilsof Argentina are located in this region. They are Mollisols(mainly Argiudolls and Hapludolls), the most important andwidespread soil order in the region. Argiudolls are usuallyvery deep and show a complex profile, with highlydifferentiated horizons. Hapludolls have simpler profileswith surface layers occupied by coarser deposits. LocalMollisols were developed from loessic materials of predominantlysilty granulometry, with some involvement of sand,leading to very favourable natural soil physical conditionsfor crop growth. Other conspicuous soil orders are Entisolsand Alfisols. In this chapter, soil genesis and major soil typesare described and four subregions were considered: Northern,Western, Southern and Flooding Pampa.Fil: Rubio, Gerardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Pereira, Fernando X.. Secretaría de Industria y Minería. Servicio Geológico Minero Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Taboada, Miguel Angel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación de Recursos Naturales. Instituto de Suelos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

American Precious Metals and Their Consequences for Early Modern Europe

An early version of this chapter can be found in: http://www.ehes.org/EHES_174.pdfOver the early modern period and beyond, massive amounts of silver and gold were found and mined in the Americas. This chapter reviews the consequences for the European economies. Some second-order receiver countries such as England benefited in both the short and long run. First-order receivers such as Spain and Portugal also benefited in the short run, but their continued exposure to the arrival of massive quantities of precious metals eventually led to loss of competitiveness and an institutional resource curse.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio