PROFILE STUDIES OF NORMAL SOILS OF NEW YORK

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Abstract
Petrographic, X-ray Diffraction, and DTA studies were made of the sand (0.1 - 0.05 mm.), silt, 2.0-0.2 [mu], and less than 0.2 [mu] size fractions. Mechanical analyses, pH, heavy mineral, and petrographic studies of undisturbed soil cores as thin sections were also completed. These data are from 6 profiles which represent a soil sequence derived from glacial till parent material of decreasing CaCO3 content. The dominant clay mineral was illite; the most alkaline profile also contained small amounts of vermiculite and montmorillonite. The most acid profiles contained kaolinite. Petrographic criteria for the intensity of weathering are given. Petrographic observations are given as evidence of the physical movement of clays from the surface horizons to form textural B horizons. Surface tension forces are suggested as the possible mechanism for the characteristic layering of clays in oriented positions in the pore spaces of the B horizons.

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