Table 1. Characteristics of soils in prairie provinces.

Regions of prairie provinces	Great Groups	pH	SOM content in surface horizon	Texture	Diagnostic Horizon	Comments
Southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba	Black Chernozems	6.5–7.5	5–9.5%	Sandy loam to clay loam	Ah, Ap, Ahe	A grassland soil whose diagnostic horizon is formed by high levels of organic matter additions from the roots of grasses.
	Brown Chernozems	6.5–7.5	2.5–3.4%	Loam, clay loam
	Vertisolic soils	7.2–8.5	1–6%	Clay loam, clay	Bss	Associated with high clay glacio-lacustrine landscapes; characterized by shrinking and swelling of clays.
	Solonetzic soils	8–9	1–2%	Clay	Bn or Bnt	A grassland soil with high sodium levels in the B horizon; usually associated with a clay-rich B horizon and high Na content.
Western and Northern Alberta and Manitoba	Regosolic soils	4–8	< 1%	Sandy, loamy sand	No B hor.	Weakly developed soils found throughout prairie provinces wherever pedogenic conditions prevent the formation of B horizons.
Central and Northern Alberta	Gray Luvisols	4.5–5.5	1–2% in mineral horizon	Sandy loam, loam	Bt	A forest soils where dominant process is eluviation of clay (and sometimes organic substances) from the Ae horizon and its deposition in the Bt horizon. Above-ground SOM input: LFH horizon.
Western Alberta, Northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba	Brunisols	5–6.5	~2%	Sandy loam, loam	Bm	A forest soil whose properties are not strongly enough developed to meet the criteria for the Luvisolic or Podzolic Orders.
Northern-east Manitoba	Cryosols	4–7	< 1% in min. hor. or 10–30% in org. hor.	Mostly fine-textured from sandy to silt loam	Bcr	Common in the subarctic forest area in Cryosolic soils are formed in either mineral or organic materials that have permafrost.
Central Manitoba	Gleysols	< 5	< 1% in min. hor. or 10–30% in org. hor.	Sandy-loam	G	Diagnostic bluish-gray color reflects the occurrence of a reducing (anoxic) environment
Northern Alberta and Central Saskatchewan and Manitoba	Organic soils	4.5–6.5	> 30%	NA	O	Soils of the Organic order are composed largely of organic materials. They include most of the soils commonly known as peat, muck, or bog and fen.