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.
Wetland soil characteristics form when soil is continuously saturated for periods of one or two weeks or more during the growing season. The parent material influences how the soil retains water, and the hydric (wet) soil characteristics that form. The biology of the soil also influences hydric soil characteristics. Under saturated conditions, soil micro-organisms can rapidly use up the oxygen in the soil, which can change its color and appearance.