Land
Due to the cold weather it is hard for plants to grow. Frozen ground covers most of the polar regions for the majority of the year. Permafrost reaches a thickness of 600-1000m deep. Large amounts of permafrost can lead to poor water drainage. Due to the permafrost the water in the soil remains frozen for most of the year. In the summer the top of the permafrost may be covered with water due to melting in the area (Stonehouse, 69). Weathering is also common in polar regions. There is rubble from rocks that are scattered on the land due to movement of glaciers. Also due to quick temperature change causes weathering.
The main type of soil in the polar regions is Ahumic soil. This includes the cold desert soil. This soil consists of sand that is frozen. These soils tend to not have a lot of vegetation. In this soil there is bacteria that have been found.
The other type of soil is organic soil. This type of soil is found in areas that are warmer and have more moisture. Some vegetation that live here are algae, fungi and mosses. One type of organic soil is the brown soils. These soils have drainage.
Read more about this topic: Polar Ecology
Famous quotes containing the word land:
“When I have reached the shady underground
With but sad hope of coming up again,
I shall implore your ghost to hover round
And guide me to a land of lucky men....”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.”
—Bible: Hebrew Exodus, 3:8.
“Every time we get near the land you get that look on your face. When a man goes to sea, he ought to give up thinking about things on shore. Land don’t want him no more. I’ve had me share of things go wrong and all come from the land. Now I’m through with the land and the land’s through with me.”
—Dudley Nichols (1895–1960)