The relationship between soils and geomorphology was analized in the upper basin of Jequitinhonha River, through study of five soils profiles: a weackly developed Latosol originated on metabasic rocks (near Serro), a Red-Yellow Latosol developed on Tertiary sediments (region of Guinda-São João da Chapada) and a catena composed by a Red-Yellow Latosol, a Quartzic Sands and a Podzol and developed on quartzites and sandy sediments. The soils represent yet the main rock types of the Diamantina-Datas-Gouveia Plateau, which corresponds to the Upper Jequitinhonha basin highlands.

The variety of rock types, associated to the diversity of geomorphological features occuring in this region permited the coexistence of very diferent pedosystems. In fact, the region shows side by side sandy and clayed soils, with chemical, physics and mineralogical characteristics partly inherited from parental lithologies, partly associated to the long landscape history, sometimes rejuvenated by the morfogenesis, other times deepened by the pedogenesis.

The first results reveal that the catena Latosol-Quartzic Sands-Podzol represents a hydrosequence with progressive ferrolysis towards the lower part of the landscape, as observed in hydrosequences models presented by other authors.

The sequence is progressively hydromorphic, where the destruction of the plasm took place in acid environment.

The latosol of the highest landscapes developed from allochthonous clayed-sandy sediments, setted in disconformity on the quartzites and its weathered products, and it doesn't show evidence of ferrolysis.

The origin of allochthonous latosolic covers can be the sediments originated from mafic intrusions that cross-cut the quartzitic plateau, where the selective erosion has afected them at deeper levels than the quartzitic crests. Thus, it seems evident that a recent relief inversion tooked place. Its consequence is represented by the higher position of those flattened remnants, ancient playas or wide pediments, between quartzitic monadnocks.