Nebraska Soils Field Trip - Virginia Tech

4th IUSS Soil Classification Conference Field Tour Guidebook
Soil and Landscape Development of the Soils of the
Missouri River Floodplain
The Missouri River Valley in Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa consists of three distinct geomorphic
regions; the three are not always present at specific locations. The geomorphic regions are: the
channel belt which consists of bar and channel topography and braided stream remnants, the meander
belt which is a floodplain step that consists of meander scrolls and splays and abandon oxbows, and
the flood basin which consists of a natural levee and backswamp area which has upland steam
channels snaking across it (fig. 1).
Figure 1.—Overview of the relationship between parent materials and position on the Missouri River flood plain.
The channel belt is the area adjacent to the Missouri River (fig. 2). It is nearly continuous from north to
south. It includes the area thought to have been occupied by the Missouri River within about the last
100 years. This area was frequently flooded with 2 to 3 meters of water before the construction of dams
on the Missouri River.
Figure 2.—The relationship of the major soils to parent material and position in the bar area of the Missouri River flood plain
64