The soils transported and deposited by a river or a stream are called Alluvial soils.

Soils that are formed by the disintegration of parent rock and remain at their place of formation are known as residual soils.

The disintegration of the parent rock is caused by physical agents such as temperature changes, freezing, thawing, etc. or by chemical agents like oxidation, hydration, etc.

When the soil is transported from its original bed rock by forces of gravity, wind, water or ice and re-deposited at another location it is known as transported soil. Transported soils are generally sorted out according to their grain size as the velocity of the transporting medium gets reduced away from the source.

After deposition at a new place, these soils may be subjected to further weathering with the passage of time.

Transported soils are classified into different types according to their mode of transportation.

Aeolian soils:- Deposits of soil that are formed by wind are called Aeolian deposits. Sand dunes and loess are examples of these deposits. Loose sand is generally swept by the wind and transported close to the surface. If the motion is stopped, it is deposited in the form of sand dunes. The common transported soils are, however, those which have been carried by water or ancient glaciers.

Marine soils have been carried by seawater.

Alluvial soils which have been carried by rivers and streams constitute probably the largest group of transported soils on earth. These deposits may also be called sedimentary deposits as they have been formed by deposition from either standing or moving water. The deposition is primarily caused by the gradual decrease in the velocity of the river carrying the sediments. A larger part of the great Indian plains is made up of alluvial deposits.

Glacial deposits are remnants of the ice age that were carried along by the moving ice. They are generally found as big boulders at places away from their parent rock and are heterogeneous in nature with little or no stratification.

Lacustrine soils:- Other sedimentary deposits are the Lacustrine soils which are deposited on a lake bed and the Estuarine soils which are deposited at the mouth of an estuary.