loam soil

Regosol Profile. (Source: Soil Landscapes of Canada, Version 2.2, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 1996) United States Soil Classification System Aridsols are soils that develop in very dry environments. The main characteristic of this soil is poor and shallow soil horizon development. Aridsols also tend to be light-colored because of limited humus additions from vegetation. The hot climate under which these soils develop tends to restrict vegetation growth. Because of limited rain and high temperatures soil water tends to migrate in these soils in an upward direction. This condition causes the deposition of salts carried by the water at or near the ground surface because of evaporation. This soil process is called salinization. Vertisols are heavy clay soils that show significant expansion and contraction due to the presence or absence of moisture. Vertisols are common in areas that have shale parent material and heavy precipitation. The location of these soils in the United States is primarily found in Texas where they are used to grow cotton. * Solonetzic - is a grassland soil where high levels of evapotranspiration cause the deposition of salts at or near the soil surface. Solonetzic soils are common in the dry regions of the prairies where evapotranspiration greatly exceeds precipitation input. The movement of water to the earth's surface because of capillary action, transpiration, and evaporation causes the deposition of salts when the water evaporates into the atmosphere. United States Soil Classification System The most general category of the NRCS Soil Classification System recognizes eleven distinct soil orders: oxisols, aridsols, mollisols, alfisols, ultisols, spodsols, entisols, inceptisols, vertisols, histosols, and andisols.

Histosols are organic soils that form in areas of poor drainage. Their profile consists of thick accumulations of organic matter at various stages of decomposition. Figure 15: Organic Soil Landscape (British Columbia). (Source: Soil Landscapes of Canada, Version 2.2, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 1996) Figure 14: Luvisol Profile. (Source: Soil Landscapes of Canada, Version 2.2, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 1996) Figure 21: Saline Solonetzic Landscape (Saskatchewan). (Source: Soil Landscapes of Canada, Version 2.2, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 1996) Figure 5: Brunisolic Pine Landscape (Central British Columbia). (Source: Soil Landscapes of Canada, Version 2.2, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 1996) * Solonetzic - is a grassland soil where high levels of evapotranspiration cause the deposition of salts at or near the soil surface. Solonetzic soils are common in the dry regions of the prairies where evapotranspiration greatly exceeds precipitation input. The movement of water to the earth's surface because of capillary action, transpiration, and evaporation causes the deposition of salts when the water evaporates into the atmosphere.