Horizon suffixes: n vs. s vs. sa and ca vs. k

Bn - Presence of a high % of Na ions
Cs - Detectable soluble salts (NaCl, Na2SO4).
Csa - Secondary enrichment of salts more soluble than Ca and Mg (generally Na).

Ck - Presence of carbonates (CaCO3).
Bca - Secondary carbonate enrichment from horizons above, horizon > 10 cm thick.

I am wondering what the differences between these suffixes are, exactly. It seems from the above descriptions that n, s and k refer to the simple presence of the salts or carbonates, while sa and ca refer to "secondary enrichment", but I'm not sure what that means. Also not sure what the difference between n and s are - maybe just that n is used for B and s is used for C and A horizons?

In this video between 5:30 and 6:30 he covers some of these suffixes and says that n "signifies salt in the soil", s "stands for salts" and Csa is "concentrated salt ... indicates an actual layer of salt accumulated in the profile".

Thanks!

Mitchell, see the lab manual for details, BUT I recommend you focus on learning the diagnostic horizons (e.g. Bn, Bt etc.)

For the lab manual:

n = presence of a high % of Na ions. It is used with B alone (Bn), or B and t (Bnt). It leads to distinctive prismatic or columnar structure.

s = accumulation of soluble salts, e.g. Cs

sa = secondary enrichment of salts more soluble than Ca and Mg carbonates (generally Na). The concentration of salts exceeds that in the un-enriched parent material. You may see a Csa horizon for example.

So since Solonetzic soils have a Bn horizon, meaning a high percentage of exchangeable sodium, does this mean this horizon will be sodic?

Yes