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South China is one of the most concentrated areas of carbonate rock distribution in the world. The researches on the characteristics, classification and utilization of the soil developed on this special geological body have been paid much attention by scientists. But to date, knowledge about the characteristics, the spatial distribution of physical and chemical properties and quantitative classification of the soils are still insufficient. In this paper, the representative soils developed from carbonate rocks in Guizhou, Guangxi, Yunnan, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces （municipality） were investigated and characterized, and their pedogenetic characteristics and classification were discussed. The results showed that there were great spatial heterogeneities in properties and types of the soils developed from carbonate rocks, and the thickness, weathering degree, physical and chemical properties and soil types could be changed greatly in a small space. The soil thickness and texture were mainly influenced by the formation and lithology of carbonate rocks, and geomorphology. The lithology, Karst geomorphology and climatic conditions simultaneously restricted the degree of soil development and the configuration of soil profiles, and thus affected the differentiation of soil types. The color of the soils developed in carbonate rocks was mainly related to the content, minerals of iron oxide and organic matter accumulation, and affected by soil moisture and topographic conditions. Color could reflect the difference of soil weathering to a certain extent. It was suggested that formation of black soil with high accumulation of organic matter from the carbonate rocks was associated with low-lying terrain, and it was the result of the repeated accumulation of the surface material of the weathered material of the surrounding rock or the surrounding soil for a long time. Soil genetic classification for the second national soil survey was too simple to divide the soils developed from carbonate rocks, and it was difficult to fully reflect the difference among soil types. According to the diagnostic criteria of the Chinese soil taxonomic classification, soils developed from carbonate rocks in the south of China could be divided into five soil orders, i.e., Ferrosols, Isohumosols, Argosols, Cambosols, and Primosols, and was further divided into eight suborders, 15 soil types and 25 subtypes.
Keywords：
carbonate rocks
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accumulation of organic matter
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color
;
soil development
;
diagnostic classification
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