The Soils of Elgin County - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Figure 10.Diagrammatic soil profiles of typical well drained, imperfectly drained, and poorly drainedsoils in Elgin County(cm)0Well drained soil(cm)0Imperfectly drained soil(cm)0Poorly drained soil50r-100Brunisolic GrayBrown Luvisol1W L-Gleyed Brunisolic GrayBrown Luvisol100Orthic HumicGleysolHorizon DescriptionsAp very dark grayish brown coloured,mineral, surface horizon enriched withorganic matter (p - man modified e.g .plough layer)Bt dark brown coloured subsurfacehorizon, enriched with day that hasmoved downwardBmBmgjyellowish brown coloured subsurfacehorizon with only slight addition ofclaybrownish coloured subsurface horizonwith only slight addition of clay; somereddish coloured mottling occurs whichis indicative of short periods ofsaturationBgi and horizons with gray gley colour andBg2 usually reddish coloured mottlingindicative of prolonged periods ofsaturationCk brownish coloured, relativelyunweathered material from which thesoil profile has developed; containscalcium carbonate that will effervescewith dilute HClCkg grayish or bluish gray coloured,relatively unweathered material fromwhich the soil profile has developed;usually has reddish coloured mottlingindicative of prolonged periods ofsaturation; contains calcium carbonatethat will effervesce with dilute HClNumbered Horizons: Soil horizons may bevertically subdivided by consecutive numeralsuffixes e.g. Bgl, Bg2, Bg3, Bg4, etc. Soilformation processes are similar in these horizons,but they are different in at least one soilcharacteristic such as colour, texture, or structure .Roman Numerals: The designations for some soilhorizons may be prefixed by roman numeralswhich indicate a significant change in texture(mode of deposition) within the profile. Forexample, when sandy loam material overlies siltyclay material, the horizons of silty clay areprefixed by the numerals "II". The numerals II, III,and TV have been applied to some soil horizonsdescribed in Volume 2 of this report.