Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
A postglacial profile.
Podzol is the most common soil type in Sweden, formed when conifers
grow on acidic bedrock, such as granite, in places with abundant rainfall. The bedrock and acidic
conifer leaf litter result in slow decomposition, leaving organic material to accumulate on the
ground. Acids from the organic layer are carried in rainwater and dissolve the easily weathered
minerals in the top layer of soil. A bleached soil is thus formed in which only grey-white quartz
is left. Iron and aluminium from the bleached eluviated soil layer trickle down and form rust-red
oxides in the layer below, which becomes the reddish illuviated horizon. Below this, the original
moraine has not yet been affected
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