Soil Pit

The history of the soil in this pit is mostly natural and displays the typical structure expected for forest ecosystems in temperate climates. The A horizon is well mixed, possibly due to bioturbation or human plowing activity. Our A horizon doesn't really show any evidence of plowing, but we aren't sure about the historical context of this land. The dark color of the A horizon soil (last soil clockwise) indicates the presence of organic material. The B/Bw and B horizon are composed of decomposed parent material. The reddish color in these areas comes from leached nutrients like aluminum, iron and magnesium. We decided to separate the B/Bw horizon from the B horizon because it was darker in color and had more organic material, but the soil structure in both areas was the same. The C horizon is composed of coarse sand which was probably deposited during the end of the last ice age from glacial Lake Vermont or the Champlain Sea. This horizon is the parent material.