A student-friendly textbook that describes ancient soils, how they may be identified, and their use in paleoenvironmental reconstruction
Ancient soils contain vital mineralogical, geochemical, textural, and paleontological information about the continental environments in which they formed. Advances in isotope geochemistry and sequence-stratigraphic models allow evermore detailed reconstructions of environmental change from paleosols, and new insights into such diverse topics as atmospheric chemistry, global change, paleoecology, geobiology and mass extinction. This book educates readers about the field of paleopedology and how it remains a key area of investigation for geologists and environmental scientists seeking to learn about, and reconstruct, the condition and evolution of paleoenvironments.
Presented in three sections - Soils and Palesols; Factors in Soil Formation; and Fossil Record of Soils - Soils of the Past: An Introduction to Paleopedology describes the main types of ancient soil, procedures for identifying and studying them, their classification and, most significantly, a wide array of examples of how paleosols have been used for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. The book is an excellent reflection of the current state of knowledge and can be widely adopted over many disciplines.
- All chapters have been revised and updated to reflect advances in soil science in the last two decades
- New tables display a wealth of new data added since the 2nd edition published in 2001
- New figures have been added and line art has been redrawn to improve clarity and promote understanding
- References have been updated throughout
Soils of the Past, 3rd Edition is written for advanced undergraduates studying paleopedology as part of a degree in geology, environmental science, or physical geography, and for interested professional earth scientists.
Table of Contents
Preface to the third edition vii
Preface to the second edition ix
Preface to the first edition xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Part I: Soils and paleosols
1 Paleopedology 3
2 Soils on and under the landscape 9
Soils and paleosols on the landscape 10
Quaternary paleosols 12
Paleosols at major unconformities 13
Paleosols in sedimentary and volcanic sequences 14
3 Features of fossil soils 17
Root traces 17
Soil horizons 24
Soil structure 31
4 Soil-forming processes 49
Indicators of physical weathering 49
Indicators of chemical weathering 54
Indicators of biological weathering 65
Common soil-forming processes 74
5 Soil classification 81
FAO world map 82
US soil taxonomy 83
A word of caution 96
6 Mapping and naming paleosols 97
Paleoenvironmental studies 98
Stratigraphic studies 103
Deeply weathered rocks 106
7 Alteration of paleosols after burial 109
Burial decomposition of organic matter 111
Burial gleization of organic matter 112
Burial reddening of iron oxides and hydroxides 113
Cementation of primary porosity 114
Compaction by overburden 116
Illitization of smectite 119
Zeolitization and celadonitization of volcanic rocks 121
Coalification of peat 122
Kerogen maturation and cracking 123
Neomorphism of carbonate 123
Metamorphism 124
Common patterns of alteration 125
Part II: Factors in soil formation
8 Models of soil formation 129
9 Climate 133
Classification of climate 134
Indicators of precipitation 137
Indications of temperature 145
Indicators of seasonality 152
Indicators of greenhouse atmospheres 156
10 Organisms 161
Traces of organisms 162
Traces of ecosystems 185
Fossil preservation in paleosols 194
11 Topographic relief as a factor 201
Indicators of past geomorphic setting 201
Indicators of past water table 207
Interpreting paleocatenae 210
12 Parent material as a factor 215
General properties of parent materials 217
Some common parent materials 221
A base line for soil formation 225
13 Time as a factor 231
Indicators of paleosol development 234
Accumulation of paleosol sequences 246
Part III: Fossil record of soils
14 A long-term natural experiment in pedogenesis 259
15 Soils of other worlds 263
Soils of the Moon 264
Soils of Venus 269
Soils of Mars 272
Meteorites 278
Relevance to early Earth 283
16 Earth’s earliest landscapes 287
Oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere 292
Differentiation of continental crust 303
Precambrian scenery 306
17 Early life on land 311
Did life originate in soil? 313
Evidence for early life in paleosols 324
Mother earth or heart of darkness? 334
18 Large plants and animals on land 337
Evidence of multicellular organisms in paleosols 340
How did multicellular land organisms arise? 349
19 Afforestation of the land 359
Early forest soils 361
A diversifying landscape 367
A finer web of life on land 373
The shape of evolution 384
20 Grasses in dry continental interiors 387
Early grassland soils 392
Evolutionary processes 401
How did grasslands arise? 404
21 Human impact on landscapes 409
Human origins 414
Early human ecology 418
A tamed landscape 422
Soil worship 428
Glossary 431
References 453
Index 519
