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

Organic (OR)Organic land units usually consist ofdepressional wetlands which often have standingwater at the surface for long periods of time eachyear. The organic soils which occur in these landunits are very poorly drained and variable inmaterial composition and thickness . Theunderlying mineral materials are also variable,ranging from coarse textured fine sand to veryfine textured silty clay . These land units occuronly in a few small areas in the County, and theywere not rated for their capability or suitability foragricultural use .soils which may occur in the often low-lyingfloodplains.The slopes of the steep side walls generallyexceed 30% . Occasionally the slopes may be lesssteép, especially in valleys with short side slopes .The side walls are rated Class 6T to TT forcommon field crops . The alluvial terraces andfloodplains are generally limited in their use foragriculture due to flooding . They are rated Class31 to 51. These land units frequently were mappedwhere the alluvial terrace or floodplain areas werenot large enough to delineate separately on thesoil maps .Scarp (SC)Areas mapped as Scarp land units consist ofstrongly to very steeply sloping cliffs along theshoreline of Lake Erie, or they consist of similarlysloping river or creek banks adjacent to the majorwater courses which traverse the County. Theland units which occur along the Lake Erieshoreline generally have slopes which are greaterthan 30%. They have been formed by waveerosion which in many places is still active . Theunits which occur along the Thames River andmajor creeks generally tend to have surface slopeswhich are also greater than 30%. Occasionally,however, the surface slopes may range from 15 to30%.The soils which occur in these land units arehighly variable in materials and drainage.Textures of the soil materials range from gravellysand to clay. Soil drainage ranges fromimperfectly drained in the clay textured materials,to rapidly drained in the gravelly sand texturedmaterials. Areas mapped as this land unit arerated Class 6T to 717 for common field crops.These land units frequently were mapped in areaswhere they occurred adjacent to Alluvium landunits which were large enough to delineateseparately on the soil maps.Valley Complex NOThese land units consist of "U" shaped valleysthat most often are associated with the ThamesRiver and major creeks which traverse the County.The valleys most often consist of strongly to verysteeply sloping side walls, and nearly level alluvialterraces or floodplains. The terraces or floodplainsoften occupy significant portions of the land units.The soils which compose the side walls, terraces,or floodplains are quite variable in materials anddrainage . They range from rapidly drained,coarse textured soils which may occur on thevalley side walls, to poorly drained, clay textured