The nature and properties of eight selected Podzols and Cambisols from the eastern United States and north-east Scotland were investigated to determine 1) their pedogenesis from physical, chemical, mineralogical, morphological and micromorphological properties, and 2) soil genesis relationships between the soils. Physical, chemical, mineralogical, morphological and micromorphological analysis were conducted on four soils from each country. The following physical and chemical analyses were conducted: particle size, pH by water, KCl and CaCl₂, exchangeable bases, cation exchange capacity (CEC), percent base saturation (BS), KCl extractable H and Al, carbon determination, acid-oxalate extractable Al, Fe, Mn and Si, and dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate (DCB) extractable Al, Fe and Mn. The mineralogy of the very fine sand fraction was determined by grain counts, while energy dispersive x-ray analyses conducted on a scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDXRA) gave details of the composition of coatings, matrix material and other features of selected areas of thin sectors. Petrographic studies of soil thin sections revealed certain micromorphological characteristics and field descriptions gave information on the morphology of the soils. These investigations revealed a wide range of spodic expression in the soil profiles which depended greatly on the combination of parent material, climate, vegetation, relief and time. Of the eight soils studied, six were Podzols and the other two, although having characteristics of Podzols, were classified as Dystric Cambisols. A Carbic Podzol (Georgia) and a Ferric Podzol (New Jersey) both formed in sandy, base deficient coastal plain sediments on flat reliefs at low elevations in the eastern United States.