minimal profile
development

Just beginning to see a B horizon

-Have a melanic epipedon
-Fertile, easy to till, but often need P fertilizer

-Have permafrost (layer of soil frozen year-round)
-Loss due to climate change – may further accelerate

-minimal to no oxygen
-can be used for agriculture if drained, require lime
-important carbon sink
-can hold a lot of water

-Low soil moisture regime
-Minimal development
-Ochric horizon
-Calcium carbonate accumulation

-Has “high-activity” clays that swell when wet, shrink when dry
-dark due to mineral
composition

In grasslands, grain growing
areas

– High Al (aluminum) and Fe (iron)
-semiarid – humid
-argillic or natric horizon

-Associated with forests
-Leached
-Argillic horizon

-Under coniferous forests
-Albic horizon
-Sandy, highly leached, acidic

In hot, humid areas (tropical
rainforest)