Routine analyses for soil cation exchange properties usually give only limited insight into the properties and management of soils containing significant amounts of variable charge. In this paper a procedure for determining a soil Charge Fingerprint is fully described, a model developed from simplified theory to underpin the methodology is discussed, and examples of the usefulness of the approach are given. Operationally defined cation and anion exchange capacities (CEC and AEC) are determined over an appropriate pH range (pH 4 to pH 6 is suggested) using Ca and Cl as the index cations. At low pH, Ca does not always fully saturate the CEC, so that it is necessary to distinguish a Basic CEC (Ca ads.) from the Total CEC (Ca + Al ads.). The graphical representation of CEC_T, CEC_B, and AEC v. pH constitutes the Charge Fingerprint. Though not intended as a routine instrument, its determination on key samples in a characterisation exercise places routinely determined basic and acidic cations in context.

Examples are given of large scale characterisation studies that link soils from different continents having similar surface charge characteristics; of the assessment of the success or otherwise of producing permanent positive charge in synthetically prepared Ti-substituted goethites; and of the evaluation of the effect of adding crushed basic rock amendment on the surface charge properties of a variable charge soil. The formulation of a Depreciation Index, which classifies soils in terms of their departure in basic cation content from an arbitrarily defined ‘ideal’ condition, is suggested for use in soil resource assessment.