The present study aimed to identify the relationships between land attributes, source material and soils in a Northwest Rio de Janeiro State area. Land attributes as: elevation, slope, aspect, plan curvature, solar radiation and compound topographic index (CTI), and the dominant lithology in the area had a strict influence on the soil distribution, which that ones derived from migmatites showing abrupt textural change, unlike soils originating from the granulites. Elevation and slope attributes helped out to explain the distribution of Leptosols and Cambisols in the area, while slope and CTI attributes explain the occurrence of Yelow and Red Yelow Acrisols and Gleysols on low relief. Distincts depths are constrained by the curvature of the terrain, with concave areas presenting shallower soils (saprolitic) than in convex areas. The Acrisols derived from granulites, which occur in hilly conditions, on slopes facing north and highest incidence of solar radiation, show red hue and are eutrophic, while the Acrisols on slopes facing south (< solar radiation) are yellowish-red, dystrophic and show ferralic horizon at depth.
soil-landscape relationships; digital soil mapping; pedometrics
