Soils of the cold desert have many features in common with those of hot deserts. They generally have dry surface horizons, capped by a desert pavement of lag gravel, a zone of accumulation of water-soluble salts, and a permanently frozen layer beneath, which may be ice-cemented in its lower part. They are also distinguished by their very low temperatures and as a consequence of this they have very low moisture status and humidity.Soil moisture within cold desert soils is usually in the form of small ice crystals, vapour, or thin water films. The influence of broad climatic differences in Antarctica is reflected in the soils by differences in moisture supply, in terms of precipitation, and its availability, which is dependent on the length of time any given soil is, in whole or in part, above freezing. This in turn influences the development of morphological properties including soil depth and horizon development. On the basis of these features it has been possible to group soils in terms of moisture availability: those in which moisture is rarely, if ever. available and in which there is no leaching of soluble materials (ultraxerous moisture class); soils in which moisture is sufficient to allow some leaching of soluble material (xerous moisture class). and soils in which relatively large amounts of moisture are available (subxerous moisture class). Characteristics of the soils formed under these regimes are described.Subsurface ice, present during the early stages of soil formation as the soil parent material is formed by the ablation of ice-cored moraine, represents an important source of profile moisture during the early stages of soil formation. Its main influence on soil morphology, however, is in the mixing and sorting of coarse and fine materials during the formation of patterned and hummocky ground.In local areas where there is an abundance of moisture, often as a saline solution in hollows or depressions, intrazonal soils may be developed. Apart from a wetter soil moisture regime, these soils are characterised by the presence of higher concentrations of soluble salt, by olive rather than brownish soil colours and by higher clay contents as well as by differences in weathering and clay mineral formation. The profile features resulting from these moisture differences are described and illustrated.