Introduction: Wetland soils are very diverse. They are found from the Arctic to the tropics. They can be mineral or organic, seasonal or year-round, marine or freshwater. The only thing they have in common is that, at least for part of the year, they are saturated with water. This saturation has a significant impact on soil characteristics such as biota, chemistry and physics. However, over the last century more than half of all wetlands in the United States have been drained for agriculture and other uses such as construction. When soils are drained the characteristics change drastically. This article is an attempt 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 from wetland to wetland but are characterized by certain processes. One is the interaction of the soil with the water table. Three possible groundwater flow patterns were considered: water could flow into the saturated areas from the surrounding area (drain), making the saturated area the focal point; water may flow through swamps due to local relief (flow-through); or water may flow from the saturated zone into surrounding areas (recharge), probably due to different water use by plant communities or pumping (Crownover et al, 1995). There may also be a vertical exchange of water between the water table and the saturated soil. For example, capillary effects push water up into the soil from the water table. In addition to the vertical and horizontal flow of water, the surface area of ​​the ground occupied by the water is also important. Wetland soils are saturated or nearly saturated, so much of the pore space is... middle of paper......ne flatwood landscape: Soil Science Society of America Journal, 59, 1199-1206. Fausey, N.R., Brown, L.C., Belcher, H.W., and Kanwar, R.S. (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, M.B. (2003) Environmental Chemistry of Soils: Advances in Environmental Research, 8, 5 -19Mitsch, W. J., & Gosselink, J. G. (2000). The value of wetlands: importance of scale and landscape setting. Ecological Economics, 35, 25-33Schipper, L.A., Harfoot, C.G., McFarlane, P.N. and Cooper, (1994) Anaerobic decomposition and denitrification during plant decomposition in an organic soil: Journal of Environmental Quality, 23, 923-928