histow.GIF (29003 bytes)

Definition
Soils which are composed of organic materials.

Distribution
Histosols cover approximately 275 million hectares in the northern parts of America, Europe and Asia. An additional 40 million hectares of Histosols occur on coastal low-lands of the subtropics and tropics. Histosols are normally associated with Podzols, Gleysols and Fluvisols.