Growing interest in the environmental effects of agricultural practices has led to increased research about the relationships between land use, soil moisture, groundwater hydrology, and environmental quality. Soil properties and parent material stratigraphy (the sequence of deposits) are important factors affecting groundwater flow patterns and fertilizer and pesticide transport through the soil. However, the interactions among shallow groundwater systems, soil geomorphology (the study of land forms, their origin, and their development) and near-surface stratigraphy have not undergone detailed investigation. This lack of knowledge has hampered attempts to evaluate the environmental effects of differing agricultural systems.