Properties and Relative Age of Soils of Southwestern Cumberland Peninsula, Baffin Island, N.W.T., Canada

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
On southwestern Cumberland Peninsula, Minimal Podzol (Pergelic Cryopsamments), Arctic Brown (P. Cryorthents), and Tundra (P. Cryaquepts) soils occur along moist fiords and Polar Desert (P. Cryorthents) soils occur in the more xeric uplands. Polar Desert soils have undergone acid leaching but maintain some features of Polar Desert soils in the high arctic, above 75.degree. N latitude. Most of the soils are extremely to strongly acid and contain low amounts of organic matter, exchangeable bases, extractable P and clay. Arctic Brown and Minimal Podzol soils contain the greatest amount of water-soluble salts. The order of abundance of cations in water extracts is Ca > Mg > Na > K > H, and thus are typical of well-drained soils of semiarid regions. Dominant textures are gravelly or cobbly sand and loamy sand. Silt increases markedly with soil depth, possibly due to vertical frost sorting. Kaolinite is prevalent in the clay fraction of Polar Desert soils; mica is most abundant in the other soils. Poor profile development, frost sorting, variable snow cover, and differences in vegetation and microclimate over short distances have affected soil properties, thereby limiting the use of soils in estimating relative age of moraines. Soil properties most related to age are depth of oxidation, maximum percent free Fe, color of the surface mineral horizon and kaolinite/mica ratio in the clay-size fraction.