Heritage Community Foundation Presents
Alberta Online Encyclopedia
Top Left of Navigation Bar The Grassland Region Title
Species at Risk in AlbertaView our site layout to navigate to specific areasSearch our site for informationObtain help for navigating our sitePlease emails us your questions and comments!View our partners that helped us in this project

Back to Natural Regions map
The Boreal Forest Region
The Canadian Shield Region
The Foothills Region
The Grassland Region
The Parkland Region
The Rocky Mountain Region

Visit Alberta Source!
Visit the Heritage Community Foundation
Visit Canada's Digital Collections

The Dry Mixedgrass Soils

The characteristics soils of the Dry Mixedgrass Subregion are Dark Brown Chernozems, which typically develop under grasslands.  Brown Solonetz soils are common in the extreme southeast of the subregion and in a large area north of Dinosaur Provincial Park.

Foothills Natural Region Chernozems are a typical prairie soil. They were formed only 100,000 years ago under aerobic conditions where water flowed freely through the upper layers. They were created by the sudden and rapid addition of organic matter, along with lots of humidification.

Chernozemic Soil If you were to look at a cross-section of a chernozem, you might see things like earthworm tracks and animal burrows filled in with different types of soils. Animals like these aerated the soils and were crucial in the formation of Chernozems.

Although there are many different kinds of Chernozems, there is very little difference between them. One interesting fact is that Black Chernozems are formed because of lots of precipitation in that particular area.

Chernozems are generally dry, and as such, can only support vegetation like tall grasses. Sometimes, though, patches of deciduous woodlands can grow as well.

Solonetz is a typical prairie soil, like the Chernozems, and they're usually found together. Solonetz soils are most common in areas where the amount of rain is less than the amount of transevaporation from the soil. Because of that, there is usually not enough moisture in the soil to support a complete plant cover. The pH of the soil is also too high to grow much vegetation. 

Solonetz soils were formed during the Holocene period, and are made up of unconsolidated materials, including glacial deposits. They are confined to flat or gently rolling areas, but are absent from depressions where the water table comes near the surface.

Information provided by and printed with the permission of Alberta Community Development, Parks and Protected Areas.

Albertasource.ca | Contact Us | Partnerships
            For more on the natural history of Alberta, visit Peel’s Prairie Provinces.
Copyright © Heritage Community Foundation All Rights Reserved