SOIL PROPERTIES IN RELATION TO WATER REGIME AT A SITE NEAR QUEBEC CITY
Properties of soils along the 3% slope were affected both by water table levels and by the nature of the parent sedimentary rock. All of the soils had upper sola of medium to fine texture, due largely to the disintegration of the underlying shaly gravel. Relatively impermeable shaly bedrock at depths of 1–2 m from the surface maintained generally high water tables. Redox potentials, gley colors and mottling were closely associated with proximity to the surface of the water table. Evidence of podzolisation and of clay weathering and translocation were obscured by the release of bases and clay from the disintegrating gravel. Hydraulic conductivities of the surficial layers were generally much lower than those of the gravelly subsoil layers, but the data were highly variable due to soil variability, seasonal changes in soil structure and problems with methodology. The data suggest that surface ridging might be more effective than tiles for draining soils such as these.