The properties, genesis and geomorphological relationships of a sequence of soils on a limestone plain in Southeast Ontario, Canada

Abstract A sequence of soils was studied on a cross-section transverse to a drumlin continuing across lacustrine and alluvial deposits and terminating on a ridge. A calcareous till was deposited on a scoured, flat limestone plain during the last advance of the Wisconsin ice sheet and locally formed drumlins. After this local readvance, lacustrine sediments were deposited in a body of water ponded between the drumlin and the dead ice remaining in the valley floor. After the ice melted completely, alluvium was deposited in the valley. Gray brown luvisolic soils have developed on the drumlin, gray wooded soils on the lacustrine deposits, gleysol on the alluvium and brunisolic soils on the calcareous till. The absence of buried soils indicates that the present ground surface and soils have formed since shortly after the final retreat of the ice. Analytical data suggest that the processes of soil formation are not advanced. The big differences in properties of the various soils in this sequence are due both to the nature of the parent material and to the geomorphic situation.