Introduction: Wetland soils are very diverse. They are found from the Arctic to the tropics. They can be mineral or organic, seasonal or annual, marine or freshwater. What they have in common is that they are saturated with water for at least part of the year. This saturation has a significant impact on soil characteristics such as biota, chemistry and physics. However, over the past century, more than half of all wetlands in the United States have been drained for agricultural and other purposes, such as construction. When soils are drained, their characteristics are radically modified. This article attempts to describe changes in artificially drained soils and to consider some of the consequences of these changes. Body: The physical properties of saturated soils vary somewhat among wetlands, but are characterized by certain processes. One of them is the interaction of the soil with the water table. Three possible groundwater flow models were considered: water could flow into the saturated zones from the surrounding area (spill), making the saturated zone the focal point; water could flow through swamps due to local relief (through flow); or water could flow from the saturated zone to surrounding areas (recharge), probably due to differential water use by plant communities or pumping (Crownover et al, 1995). There may also be vertical exchange of water between the water table and the saturated soil. For example, capillary effects cause water to rise from the water table to the ground. In addition to the vertical and horizontal flow of water, the surface area of ​​the ground occupied by water is important. Wetland soils are either saturated or nearly saturated, so that much of the interstitial space is...... middle of paper ...... a flatwood landscape : Soil Science Society of America Journal, 59, 1199-1206.Fausey, NR, Brown, LC, Belcher, HW and Kanwar, RS (1995) Drainage and water quality in the Great Lakes and Corn Belt States: Journal of Irrigation Drainage Engineering, 121, 283-288. Leventhal, E. (1990). Alternative uses of wetlands other than conventional agriculture in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska: EPA/171/R-92/006, 145 p. McBride, MB (2003) Environmental Chemistry of Soils: Advances in Environmental Research, 8, 5 -19Mitsch, WJ and Gosselink, JG (2000). The value of wetlands: importance of scale and landscape setting. Ecological Economics, 35, 25-33Schipper, LA, Harfoot, CG, McFarlane, PN and Cooper, (1994) Anaerobic decomposition and denitrification during plant decomposition in organic soil: Journal of Environmental Quality, 23, 923-928