2 Raw gley soils
Raw gley soils are at a very early stage of formation and differ little from their parent material which is recently formed and has remained waterlogged since deposition. Soil development is limited to the incorporation of some organic matter in the top few centimetres, and possibly some drying and cracking hinting at the start of structure formation. These soils are typically greyish in colour and may or may not have prominent mottling. The commonest examples are the raw sandy gleys associated with sand flats and unripened gleys in marine alluvium and saltmarsh. Raw gley soils can be found in estuaries, between sand dunes and along river banks in recently deposited alluvium. Good locations to see these soils are the banks along the Ffraw heading down to the beach, along the Braint or around the head of Traeth Dulas
Location: Dulas Bay can be seen in the creeks and pools at the head of the bay. (photo : John Conway)
below : Newborough Warren – in depressions between the dunes. (photo : John Conway)
Afon Braint – seen in the river bank, air introduced down worm burrows has oxidized the sediment
Lleiniog – walk from the roadside and look in the low cliff where the river is eroding into recent sediments.