Natric Horizon in a Moderately Well Drained Soil of Illinois

The study included two soils: one Tamalco silt loam, a natric soil and the other, Hoyleton silt loam, a non-natric associate of Tamalco on similar landscape positions. The morphological, physical and chemical properties of the profiles of the two soils including their paleosols, and the water-table records at the two sites suggest that the paleosols underlying Tamalco soils are less permeable than those underlying Hoyleton soils. The morphology and the stratigraphy of a north-south transect through the Tamalco sampling site indicate that a mechanism similar to wick effect is responsible for the development of the natric horizons in the Tamalco soils.