Fifty hillslope profiles with associated soils were examined in the Roodepoort area, Transvaal, to determine the relationships between soil and site characteristics, as well as the applicability of the toposequence concept. A mesoscale approach was adopted, which implied a relationship between soil form on the one hand, and hillslope unit and site curvature on the other, at a scale of 1:10 000. Whereas significant statistical relationships were established between certain soil forms and site characteristics, a rather low predictability of soil pattern according to drainage- toposequences was found. The latter could be due to the land form configuration, to underlying bedrock with its peculiar weathering front, to the occurrence and form of the water table, or to the chosen scale of study. Nevertheless, it was concluded that studies of this nature can contribute to an understanding of how the soil-landscape system functions.
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