MORPHOLOGY AND GENESIS OF A CHERNOZEMIC TO PODZOLIC SEQUENCE OF SOIL PROFILES IN SASKATCHEWAN

Abstract

Chemical, physical, and micropedological studies were made of Orthic Black, Orthic Dark Grey, Dark Grey Wooded, and Orthic Grey Wooded profiles developed from relatively uniform glacial till material. The general gradation of morphological properties observed for the Black to the Grey Wooded soils is reflected in the thickness of the Ah horizons and of the sola, the development of Ae and textural B horizons, and in the structure and microfabrics of the soil horizons.All four soils are highly base-saturated, calcium being the dominant cation on the exchange complex. Particle size distribution has been affected by both translocation of clay as well as by physical breakdown of coarse fractions particularly within surface horizons. Iron translocation within all four profiles appears to be closely associated with clay movement. The uniform iron content of the fine clay fraction indicates that iron may occur as an integral part of the clay structures and that the clays have undergone little alteration as a result of weathering.