A stagnogley soil is a typically non-

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Al ...

, non-

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an a ...

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand ( particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

y or

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

ey soil with a relatively impervious, subsurface

horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether ...

. Stagnogley soils are related to the

pseudogley A Stagnosol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is soil with strong mottling of the soil profile due to redox processes caused by stagnating surface water. Stagnosols are periodically wet and mottled in the topsoil and subsoil, w ...

s and are a type of

gleyic A gleysol is a wetland soil (hydric soil) that, unless drained, is saturated with groundwater for long enough to develop a characteristic colour pattern. The pattern is essentially made up of reddish, brownish, or yellowish colours at surfaces o ...

soil. The name of this

hygroscopic Hygroscopy is the phenomenon of attracting and holding water molecules via either absorption or adsorption from the surrounding environment, which is usually at normal or room temperature. If water molecules become suspended among the substance ...

soil derives from its gley dynamics. The nutrient-poor, often heavily acidified soil is poorly aerated and is not suited to arable use on account of the poor growth performance of cultivated crops.Fritz Scheffer, Paul Schachtschabel: ''Lehrbuch der Bodenkunde.'' 15th edn., newly revised and expanded by Hans-Peter Blume. Spektrum, Heidelberg, etc., 2002, . As a shallow topsoil with a moderately stony subsoil, it is mainly used for woodland.''Stagnogley'' in: ''

Microsoft Encarta ''Microsoft Encarta'' is a discontinued Digital data, digital multimedia encyclopedia published by Microsoft from 1993 to 2009. Originally sold on CD-ROM or DVD, it was also available on the World Wide Web via an annual subscription, although l ...

'' Because of its shallow nature it is only suitable for species of trees that thrive well in these conditions, such as the

English Oak ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widely ...

Formation

This type of soil, the topsoil of which becomes bleached as a result of continual waterlogging, is often formed on sand-rich material over dense, sandy-loamy to silty-clayey subsoil - also called ''Sandkerf'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

- in cool, moist climatic zones. As a result of frequent waterlogging throughout the seasons at low temperatures, minerals like

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

and

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ...

are released and deposited in sandy topsoils to the sides. Where the soil is saturated all-year round it turns into bog stagnogley and, eventually, into

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

. Examples, known as ''

misse The Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) is a series of experiments mounted externally on the International Space Station (ISS) that investigates the effects of long-term exposure of materials to the harsh space environment. ...

n'' occur in the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is ...

in Germany.

Extent

Stagnogley soils occur in perhumid climates and also on steep slopes. They are found, for example, in the central European

Central Upland The Central UplandsDickinson (1964), p.18 ff. (german: die MittelgebirgeN.B. In German die ''Mittelgebirge'' (plural) refers to the Central Uplands; das ''Mittelgebirge'' refers to a low mountain range or upland region (''Mittel'' = "medium" and ...

ranges of the

, Ore Mountains and

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

in waterlogged places, as well as on the

Midvale Ridge The Midvale Ridge is a natural region in South Central England formed by a band of low-lying limestone hills that run from southeast to northwest from the Vale of Aylesbury to Swindon. It has been designated as National Character Area 109 by Nat ...

in the UK. Due to the discharge of heavy metals, they occur with oxigleys.

References

{{Soil type Types of soil Pedology