Thick Bh Horizons in the North Carolina Coastal Plain: I. Morphology and Relation to Texture and Soil Ground Water

Abstract

Abstract Spodosols in North Carolina have thick, vertically continuous Bh horizons wherever the parent material is a sand or loamy sand texture that has a high water table and a downward flow of ground water. These Bh horizons are 5–9 m thick, and their lower boundaries are always a few centimeters above a less permeable layer or a bed of greenish‐gray sand. Pollen counts and the general morphology indicate that the thick Bh horizons are post depositional features. Percolating organics, monitored by shallow wells, move from the surface downward in quantities greater than necessary to account for the whole Bh horizon thickness.