Morphology and Water Regime of a Dothan Soil

Abstract The water regime in a Dothan soil was characterized by installing piezometers at 137‐, 183‐, and 285‐cm depths. Monthly water table measurements differed for each piezometer throughout a 4‐year study period, indicating a perched water table. There was a water table at the greatest depth on only five occasions during the study period. On all but a few occasions, a water table was encountered at the two shallower depths. Morphological properties and seasonal precipitation were related to the water regime. The perched water table fluctuated in a continuous zone of saturation in the B horizon above the horizons containing appreciable amounts of plinthite. A discontinuous zone of saturation is bounded on the bottom by the B3 horizon. The piezometer that had perforations in the C horizon showed no water table, which indicated that a “dry” zone exists between the perched and regional ground‐water tables. Fluctuations in the depth to perched water corresponded to seasonal precipitation patterns.