Virginia is a four-season state. August days can be - on the average - hot and humid, while January days can be cold and dry. The warmth in the air in early Spring, and the chill in the air in the Fall, feel different from other seasons. That's the climate pattern.
A hydric soil is a soil that is saturated, flooded, or ponded long enough during the growing season to develop anaerobic conditions in the upper part. 1  This definition can be broken up into three component parts: 2  The soil is saturated, flooded or ponded. Saturated conditions are often the result of a high water table.
However, all soils on earth fit into one of only twelve soil orders. The general characteristics of these twelve orders can be learned and remembered by a normal human mind. This lecture is intended to present the most important characteristics of each of the twelve soil orders.