Soil-catena development with time in a hot desert, southern Israel—field data and salt distribution

Abstract

Four soil catenas on alluvial-terrace scarps and bar-and-swale topography of alluvial deposits have been studied in southern Israel to determine the influence of time and slope position on soil development. The approximate ages of the catenas are: middle Holocene, early Holocene to latest Pleistocene, younger late Pleistocene, and old late Pleistocene to middle Pleistocene. Most of the trends in soil development seem best related to the age of the surface. The youngest soils are Av/Btjyj/Byj profiles and the older ones are Av/Bt or Bty/Byzm profiles. The best trends with time are the development and thickness of the Bt horizon and the development of a cemented salt horizon. Few trends are solely related to the position of a soil within a catena, except that the footslope soil of the oldest catena has a cumulic Bt horizon. This suggests that erosion–deposition processes since the inception of soil formation have been relatively minor on most slopes. Salt accumulation is progressive only in the three youngest catenas but the trend does not continue for the oldest catena, perhaps because of some combination of climatic change and decreasing soil-water infiltration capacity with time.