Practice exam #3 - QUESTION 5

Question 5: a) Cy- y denotes cryoturbation

Of- From a poorly drained forest soil, the f denoting “fibric” or containing organic material that is largely discernable/undecomposed.

Cg- g denotes gleying, ie periodic intervals of intensely anaerobic conditions and not. With this, we tend to see mottles or orange/red from oxidation

LFH- Forest floor, the site of plenty of organismal activity, biomass additions, and decomposition

Bfgj- Likely a podzolic soil, as denoted by the f in Bfgj, f indicating the accumulation of iron in the horizon. With that, we have a younger gleyed horizon.

b) Cy- In uppermost latitudes, very cold climate where most of soil profile will be frozen (added by Maja)
Of- in a poorly drained forest ... not forest, but bogs and/or wetlands or any other sites with poor drainage (Maja)
Cg- in most areas where you would find the water table close to the surface you might expect to find this kind of horizon.
LFH- In well drained forest soils
Bfgj- In a forest with predominantly coniferous vegetation, say Pacific Spirit Park, or a lower-Boreal forest in BC/QC

c) Example 1: Diagnostic Horizon: Bv/Bss Order: Vertisolic

Example 2: Diagnostic Horizon:Of and W, with W denoting a layer of water which makes perfect sense as OF is used for poorly drained soils Order: Organic

Example 3: Diagnostic Horizon: Bt horizon overlayed by an Ae Order: Luvisolic (Bf layer too thin to be a Podzol)

Example 4: Diagnostic Horizon: Very thick Ah and 1-17% organic C, with Ca2+ dominant cation Order: Chernozemic

             Example 5: Diagnostic Horizon: Bm
             Order: Brunisolic

Jacob, note that lower case "j" can denote juvenille OR weakly developed, thus in the Btgj the gleying is weakly expressed