Direct evidence of particle migration in the soil solution of a podzol.

Particles were isolated from soil leachates from the genetic horizons of a subalpine Podzol from the central Cascades, Washington. Organic particles containing traces of aluminum, iron, silicon, and sulfur were predominant in the migrant material through the upper horizons (horizons A + B); their movement was arrested in the B2hir horizon. Below B2hir and at depth, phyllosilicates, quartz, and silicate minerals were the predominant suspended materials. Elements of the podzolic mechanism and the duality of the B2hir horizon are shown.

Ice-rafted sediments as a cause of some thermokarst lakes in the noatak river delta, alaska.

Irregular, barren polygonal sheets of mud scattered over the landscape of the western portion of the Noatak River Delta are derived from lake-bottom sediments, ice-rafted during flooding. The evidence suggests that the sheets of mud change the albedo and the thermal regime of the soil, induce the development of thermokarst, and lead to the formation of ponds and lakes. The angular perimeters, especially of the small ponds, support the suggested mode of formation.