What is Catena?How it is useful?

Catena is sequence of different soils that change with drainage and relief, though generally obtained from the same parent material. Such a sequence may be seen when following a line of profile from a hill-top to a bottom of valley.

The concept of a Catena was developed in order to analyze the regular variation of soils across a slope. Understanding the soils that make up a Catena could facilitate the mapping of soils across a given region.