A type of clay soil formed by the weathering and oxidation of glacial drift, characterized by its sticky nature when wet.
From 'gumbo' (sticky clay) plus 'til' (possibly from 'till', glacial material). The term developed in geology to describe soil formed in glaciated regions, particularly in the American Midwest.
Gumbotil is essentially ancient glacier gumbo—these sticky clay soils were created tens of thousands of years ago when glaciers ground rocks into powder, and farmers in places like Iowa still curse the gumbotil that makes their fields impossibly muddy!
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