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.