Flat landscapes (e.g., coastal plains, till plains, lakebeds) form extensive and hydrologically unique areas of the earth's surface. Such areas are characterized by low kinetic energy with nominal sediment erosion and transport. Energy transfer in flat landscapes occurs dominantly via geochemical alterations and colloidal transfers driven by internal water dynamics. Conventional, hillslope-based geomorphic descriptions and hydropedologic models fail to capture or convey the relationships between soil patterns and geomorphic (energy transfer) process on flat landscapes. We use soil surveys and other publications from flat landscapes to model water dynamics that create soils and to develop terms and concepts to create unifying soil genesis and geomorphic principles. We selected four representative flat landscapes (a glacial lake plain, two coastal plains and a till plain) with published soil surveys and some pedological investigations. From these we create water flow models based on flow nets for wet and dry conditions. We then use locally derived terms (or present new terms) to develop and describe conceptual conditions illustrative of the landscape and of associated water flow processes. Small differences in topographic relief can manifest into large changes in soil development. Water table/water flow models were developed based on published hydropedologic models that explain the field conditions and soil geography. We explain field conditions and resulting pedologic development by applying the geo-hydrology concepts of recharge, flowthrough, and discharge as terms of flow process. For instance, recharge moves from higher to lower areas (rise or talf to dep) in humid areas or during moist years (high areas exhibit mounded water tables). The rise (slightly elevated area) or talf (level area between rises and depressions) act to recharge the depression (or “dep”). In contrast, in dry times the depression has water (an elevated water table) but the talf and rise do not, resulting in depression-focused recharge. A common and profound variation involves vegetative communities around the depression rim that create an “edge-focused” evaporative discharge driven by evapotranspiration. By using basic regional climatic information, three terms of landscape (rise, talf, and dep), and three terms of water movement (recharge, flowthrough, and discharge), we can explain and predict the formation and geography of soils in flat landscapes.