It is well known that saline subsurface waters flood the bed of sodic lakes only temporarily. Although continuous watercover appears only occasionally on the surrounding higher ground, the groundwater of high salt content is still near the surface here. Hence, sodic soils are formed in the neighbouring areas. The quality of sodic soil used to be in the focus of interest at the time their possible utilisation was researched. In the Danube valley the characteristic calcareous–sodic solonchak type soil was formed on calcium carbonate rich sediment of Alpine origin. On the Tisza valley, which is covered with volcanic sediment of Carpathian origin and poor in lime content, solonetz (sodium rich) type soils are dominant.
The saline soil is of hydromorph type, i.e. the influence of water is strong and it has an evaporating water balance system, where the salt dynamics of the groundwater is the most important soil developing factor. Therefore, sodic soils are developing where easily dissolvable salts, essentially the soda, have a significant role. Clay minerals, which expand when becoming wet, and which determine a disadvantageous water balance, develop a columnar structure in solonetz soils while the solonchak soils are characterised by the lack of any structure. In a given area continuous transition and mosaics between the two types may be observed.
A well known characteristic of saline soils is that they are susceptible to erosion—especially underneath grass cover—which leads into the development of diverse micro-reliefs. The most well known is the development of small sodic burms of solonetz soils, the so-called lowland micro–erosion, which is so typical for the Hortobágy pusztas. The temporary streamlets (or water wains or rills) the “szikér”formations are typical erosion forms as well. On the bottom of the smaller streamlets a bleached, pale coloured surface remains and on the bed of larger ones mud may accumulate.
The tussock formation, which can be observed frequently on alkaline meadows is caused by the cracking of soil as a consequence of regular drying up during summertime. This process—when tussocks are formed because of the widening cracks—is accelerated by the systematic poaching by livestock as grazing animals leave deep hoof prints in the wet soil.