Saskatchewan Soils Research Paper
186 Words1 Page
Essentially all the parent material of Saskatchewan soils are of glacial origin. Glacial till contains material of the bedrock that glaciers have passed over and subsequently transported hundreds of kilometres. This explains why carbonates are often present in the parent material in Saskatchewan, having been carried by glaciers that have moved over limestone in Manitoba. When the glaciers melted they produced large lakes. The water running into these lakes carried sediment and deposited sediments preferentially, depending how fast the water was moving. The still water in the middle of the lake deposited the finest silt and clay material, which produced fertile soils rich in mineral material and able to retain moisture. Fine clay rich parent