A soil profile from the Boreal Forest
A soil profile from the Boreal Forest
E: further information on this profile can be found here: https://slrpnk.net/comment/2220869
What do the different colours mean? Does it indicate a good or bad soil?
As one commentator mentions, The different colours are all from one pit! from left to right:
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LFH: - this is the leaf layer (O in USDA system). It's comprised of fallen and dead organic matter at different stages of decomposition.
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Aegj: - this is the first mineral horizon encountered (A). The 'e' denotes that it's had something leached out of it (iron in this case). the 'gj' indicates that mottling (due to periodic ground water inundation and subsequent oxidation of Fe2+ iron ions) is present. This particular soil profile was in the vicinity of a peatland. In fact, the region I dug this pit is comprised of 60% peat!
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Bmgj: this second horizon encountered (B). the 'm' in our classification system indicates very minor changes from the parent material (C horizon). 'gj' is defined above. the iron from the Aegj horizon was deposited here, which is why it's brighter than the Ckgj horizon. However, it's not enough to earn it the 'f' or 'fj' suffix, which would indicate that the iron deposition was a major forming factor in this profile.
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Ckgj: this is the last mineral horizon encountered (C). the 'k' indicates the presence of carbonates; 'gj' defined above.
This soil profile is common to somewhat wetter sites; typically a mix of aspen and white spruce. Occasional black spruce may be present.
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Those are the different soil horizons, which are basically just layers of soil with different properties. If you're interested in checking out actual soil profiles, the NRCS Web Soil Survey is a super cool website for the US.
This is the answer. The closest soil under the US taxonomy would be a spodsol.
My uneducated guess is that the left is the nutrient rich topsoil and deeper layers to the right. Still just a guess.
What's the soil life like.
Any Insects, mycelium, or other germinations?
Before I answer your question, I'll ask one of my own: Why would you think these things would be absent? I don't mean this rudely, I'm legitimately curious how you came up with the question.
As for the answer, yes. This is an undisturbed soil; there's tons of mushrooms in the area, tons of white-rot etc. The soil's got a seedbank as well, since it's native soil.
I expect it to be there. But it is admittedly hard to see.
But as someone just learning about these things (specifically from the work of Charles Dowding) I find it very exciting. And I would like to see if that could be captured in your photos as well.