Soils of the Past: An Introduction to Paleopedology

ISBN-13: 9780044457572 / Angielski / Miękka / 1990 / 520 str.

Greg J. Retallack; Gregory J. Retallack

Opis

Landscapes viewed from afar have a timeless quality that is soothing to the human spirit. Yet a tranquil wilderness scene is but a snapshot in the steady stream of surficial change. Wind, water and human activities reshape the landscape by means of gradual to catastrophic and usually irreversible events. Much of this change destroys past landscapes, but at some times and places, landscapes are buried in the rock record. This work is dedicated to the discovery of past landscapes and their life through the fossil record of soils. A long history of surficial changes extending back almost to the origin of our planet can be deciphered from the study of these buried soils, or paleosols. Some rudiments of this history, and our place in it, are outlined in a final section of this book. But first it is necessary to learn something of the language of soils, of what happens to them when buried in the rock record and which of the forces of nature can be confidently reconstructed from their remains. Much of this preliminary material is borrowed from soil science, but throughout emphasis is laid on features that provide most reliable evidence of landscapes during the distant geological past. This book has evolved primarily as a text for senior level university courses in paleopedology: the study of fossil soils.

Spis treści

One: Soils and Paleosols.- 1 Paleopedology.- 2 Soils on and under the landscape.- Some technical terms for soils.- Soils on the landscape.- Quaternary paleosols.- Paleosols at major unconformities.- Paleosols in sedimentary sequences.- 3 Features of fossil soils.- Root traces.- Soil horizons.- Soil structure.- 4 Soil-forming processes.- Indicators of physical weathering.- Indicators ofchemicalweathering.- Indicators of biological weathering.- Generalized soil-forming regimes.- 5 Soil classification.- Australian handbook.- FAO world map.- US soil taxonomy.- A word of caution.- 6 Mapping and naming paleosols.- Paleoenvironmental studies.- Stratigraphic studies.- Deeply weathered rocks.- 7 Alteration of paleosols after burial.- Compaction.- Cementation.- Neomorphism.- Authigenesis.- Replacement.- Dissolution.- Dehydration.- Reduction.- Base exchange.- Carbonization.- Two: Factors in Soil Formation.- 8 Models of soil formation.- 9 Climate.- Some classifications of climate.- Indicators of rainfall.- Indicators of temperature.- Indicators of seasonality.- 10 Organisms.- Traces of organisms.- Traces of ecosystems.- Fossil preservation in paleosols.- 11 Topographic relief as a factor.- Indicators of past geomorphic setting.- Indicators of past water table.- Interpreting paleocatenas.- 12 Parent material as a factor.- General properties of parent materials.- Some common parent materials.- A base line for soil formation.- 13 Time as a factor.- Indicators of paleosol development.- Accumulation of paleosol sequences.- Three: Fossil Record of Soils.- 14 A long-term natural experiment in pedogenesis.- 15 Soils of other worlds.- Soils of the Moon.- Soils of Venus.- Soils of Mars.- Meteorites.- Relevance to early Earth.- 16 Earth’s earliest landscapes.- Oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere.- Differentiation of continental crust.- Precambrian scenery.- 17 Early life on land.- Did life originate in soil?.- Evidence for early life in paleosols.- Mother Earth or Heart of Darkness?.- 18 Large plants and animals on land.- Evidence of multicellular organisms in paleosols.- How did multicellular soil organisms arise?.- Putting down roots.- 19 Afforestation of the land.- Early forest soils.- A diversifying landscape.- A finer web of life on land.- 20 Grasses in dry continental interiors.- Early grassland soils.- How did grasslands arise?.- Evolutionary processes.- 21 Human impact on landscapes.- Human origins.- Early human ecology.- A tamed landscape.- On human nature.- References.