Nitrogen‐depth functions in Nile Valley alluvium appear similar to those of Brunizems, but their genesis must be entirely different. Since fresh Nile mud is very rich in total nitrogen, it is proposed that the annual depositional layers, 1 mm. in thickness, undergo nitrogen losses as a result of microbial decomposition, and that for each layer the losses continue in the buried state, though at reduced rates. This model predicts quantitatively the N‐depth function actually observed. In comparison to residual soils, the Nile Valley profiles—in fact many young alluvial and loessial profiles—are inverted, the youngest horizon being on top, the oldest at the base.
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Hans Jenny (1962) studied this question.