A climosequence of soils on late quaternary volcanic ash in highland Papua New Guinea

Some chemical, physical and mineralogical properties of three soils developed in volcanic ash at altitudes of 1040 m, 1720 m, and 2350 m in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province are presented. Silt-fraction mineralogy and total chemical analyses show that fresh ash occurs in the upper approximately 30 cm of profile at each site. This fresh ash is probably only a few thousand years old and overlies an older weathered ash (Tomba Tephra;more than 50000 years old). At the lowest site the majority of the primary minerals (predominantly amphiboles, volcanic glass and felspar, and some pyroxenes) have been decomposed by weathering to produce a high clay content. With increasing altitude, greater proportions of silt-sized, unweathered and partially altered primary minerals are recognised and molar ratios of calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium to aluminum increase accordingly. In the clay fractions, allophane with Al/Si ratios of approximately 2.0 is dominant at the highest site, whereas with decreasing altitude lower proportions of allophane occur, Al/Si ratios decline and halloysite becomes dominant. Gibbsite is found in all three profiles     

The interaction of volcanic activity in quaternary times upon the evolution of the Alcantara and Simeto rivers, Mount Etna, Sicily

The interaction between volcanic and alluvial sequences is described for the Alcantara and Simeto Valleys, Mount Etna, Sicily. This study provides valuable information on the stratigraphy for prehistoric lavas exposed on the lower western flanks of the volcano. Eight orders of terrace are recognised in the Simeto Valley. The Basal Tholeiitic Volcanics, the oldest exposed lavas of Etna, are associated with Terrace 7 of the Simeto which is correlated with either the pre-Rianian (Nomentanan erosive phase), or the early Rianian Stage of the Pleistocene. The earliest evidence of Trachybasaltic volcanism in the Simeto catchment occurs in Terrace 4 which is considered to be of Late Maspinian age. The oldest known volcanics in the north western part of the volcano are related to Terrace 3 which is dated at around 20000 BP. The alluvial deposits of these terraces provide a valuable sequence of Italian Quaternary sediments dating back over the last 300000 years. The nature of these deposits is described and the probable conditions of their deposition considered. The terraces in the upper part of the Alcantara are quite different in their mode of formation from the lava-capped cut and fill terraces of the Simeto Valley. The current upper course of the Alcantara River is considered to be quite youthful (Versilian) in age and the terraces are bench features formed as the river cut down through the lava sequence.     

The humus status of modern and buried volcanic soils in Mexico and its role in the paleogeographic interpretation of tephra-paleosol sequences

Chemical and optical characteristics of soil humus have been analyzed as “memory” components of the Pleistocene volcanic paleosols in Mexico. We have studied the A1 horizons of buried Andosols of the Nevado de Toluca series and of the modern Andosols formed under different bioclimatic conditions. Data on the organic matter of buried paleosols suggest that Andosols of the Nevado de Toluca series were formed in humid forest ecosystems. Optical characteristics of the humic acids and data on the molecular-mass distribution of the humus make it possible to assume that these soils were formed under pine forests rather than under fir forests.     

Upper Permian paleosols of the East European Platform: Diagnostics of pedogenesis and paleogeographic reconstruction

A vertical sequence of seven buried paleosols composing the Klimovsk pedocomplex was studied in the basin of the Sukhona River (Vologda oblast). These paleosols were formed according to the accumulative model of pedogenesis (pedosedimentation model). They had monogenetic profiles with eluvial-gley, structural, and carbonate-illuvial types of differentiation. The set of elementary pedogenic processes responsible for the development of these soils included gleyzation in the surface horizon and around the roots, the inter- and intrahorizon translocation and segregation of iron, structuring, humification, weathering, lessivage, the migration and segregation of carbonates, and the synthesis of palygorskite and analcime. The studied paleosol profiles make it possible to reconstruct seven pedogenetic stages; each of them lasted for about n × 10²–10³ years. The paleosols were formed on a flat lacustrine-alluvial plain with drying lakes and temporary streams. The stages of inundation and water stagnation on the surface alternated with the stages of drying of the territory. The climate was warm, with well-pronounced wet and dry seasons. Against this general climatic background, arid climatic epochs marked by the development of calcic paleosols alternated with humid climatic epochs marked by the development of noncalcareous paleosols.     

Buried vertic paleosols of the North Caucasus in the third millennia BC

Paleosols buried under kurgans dating back to the Yamnaya, Catacomb, and Post-Catacomb cultural epochs of the Bronze Age (4600–3900 BP) on the territory of the Stavropol Upland (the North Caucasus) in the area occupied by vertic chernozems were studied. It was found that solonchakous and deeply solonchakous and solonetzic chestnut soils and solonetzes proper predominated in the study area during the Bronze Age. The solonetzic process was the leading pedogenetic process in the automorphic paleosols of the second half of the third millennium BC. The vertic features were weakly developed in the automorphic paleosols; they were better manifested in the paleosols developed on the floodplains. The paleosol data were used to reconstruct the environmental conditions in the region during the Bronze Age. The climatic conditions of that period were more arid and with less sharp contrasts between wet and dry seasons in comparison with the modern climate.     

Microbiological investigations of paleosols of archeological monuments in the steppe zone

Microbiological studies of the paleosols of archeological monuments (burial mounds) of the Neolithic, Bronze, Early Iron, and Middle Ages (the fourth millennium BC to the fourteenth century AD) located in the dry and desert steppe of the Lower Volga River basin were conducted. The microbial communities that existed at the time of creating the burial mounds were shown to be preserved up to the present time. This fact was confirmed by the regularities of the distribution of the microorganisms in the “mound-buried soil” system and by the data on the determination of the age for the microbial fraction of the paleosols using the method of ¹⁴C atomic mass spectrometry. The total biomass of the microbial communities in the paleosols amounted to 20–40% of the microbial biomass in their background analogues. In all the paleosols, a special pool of viable microorganisms was present. In the microbial community of the paleosols, the biomass of the active microorganisms corresponded to 0.30–41.0% of the biomass in the present-day soil; the content of mycelium of microscopic fungi composed 43–50% of that in the recent soil. In the mycelium structure in the paleosols, the share of the dark-colored mycelium increased to 98–100%. The microbiological parameters that give a contrasting characterization of the state of the microbial communities in the soils during the arid and humid climatic periods were revealed. The changes of the arid and humid climatic epochs were reflected in the structure of the microbial communities in the paleosols at the ecological-trophic, metabolic, and genetic levels.     

Regional variability of volcanic ash soils in south Ecuador: The relation with parent material,climate and land use

The high Andes region of south Ecuador is characterised by intense land use changes. These changes affect particularly the páramo, which is a collection of high altitudinal grassland ecosystems. In this region, the interaction between airborne volcanic ashes and the cold and wet climate results in very typical soils, with an elevated organic C contents. The physical soil properties are closely related to the high and reliable base flow in rivers descending from the páramo, which makes them important for the socio-economic development of the region. In this study, we analyse the regional variability of the soils in the south Ecuadorian rio Paute basin. In a first part of the study, data from soil profiles along north–south transects are used to determine the soil properties, and to relate the spatial variability of these properties to the major trends in parent material, volcanic ash deposits and climate. The profiles are Histic Andosols and Dystric Histosols devoid of allophane, with very high amounts of organic matter. Significant differences between the western and central mountain range are observed, as well as a general decrease in Andic properties from north to south, coinciding with the decrease in volcanic influence. Finally, the impact of human activities on the soil properties is assessed in a case study in the Machangara valley. Data from 5 profiles, located in an area with natural grass vegetation and a low degree of human impact are compared with 4 profiles in a heavily disturbed, intensively drained cultivated area. Despite the intensity of the land use, very few significant differences are found.     

The influence of quaternary uplift on the altitude zonation of mountain soils on diabase and volcanic ash in humid parts of the Colombian andes

Results are being presented of a pedogeographic study covering a humid tropical mountaneous region (1000 – 4000m) around Cali, Colombia. The country rock is diabase, the parent material volcanis ash, ferrallitic and fersiallitic weathering products of the diabase and their respective mixtures in slope sediments Stratigraphic and mineralogical studies of these slope sediments revealed a depositional sequence which could be related to climatically and ash induced phases of geomorphic activity for which radiocarbon ages of the ash sedimentation provided a chronological frame.The submontane and lower montane zones are characterized by extensive deep alterites and old piedmont sediments which were preserved on plateaus and benches during the geologically young uplift. Their clayey ferrallitic material strongly influences the character and zonation of soils though the widespread admixture of allophanic material keeps most of the soils outside the OxisolsThe soils above 1000 m altitude are humic, acid and cryptopodzolic (Humox, Humitropept, Dystrandept, above 3200 m Cryumbrept and Cryandept). Humus accumulation and acidification increase with altitude. Allophane increases the humus content, reduces the exchangeable aluminium and favours non-crystalline (as against gibbsitic) aluminum accumulation in the subsoil. Free iron oxide tends to crystallize or recrystallize as goethite. Its translocation occurs only in conjunction with hydromorphism. The Holocene soils are compared with Middle Pleniglacial paleosols, mainly Placaquepts, and their differences in pedogenesis and environment are discussed.     

Upper Permian paleosols developed from limestone in the middle reaches of the Volga River: Morphology and genesis

The results of the study of paleosols preserved in the Upper Permian deposits in the central part of the Russian plate are presented. The paleosol profiles consist of the medium loamy dark brown BMg,ca horizon and the hard cemented calcareous Mm,ca and Mca horizons. The imprints of plant roots in the Mm,ca horizon and in the upper part of the Mca horizon serve as a vivid diagnostic feature of these paleosols. Two paleosol morphotypes are distinguished according to the development of the structural-metamorphic BMg,ca horizon and the micromorphological features. These paleosols were developed from highly calcareous lacustrine deposits that were initially loose and then subjected to cementation. The processes of leaching and redistribution of carbonates, as well as the development of the soil structure, vertic properties, eluvialgley processes, lessivage, and soil creep, can be identified in the studied paleosols. They bear the record of the geomorphic conditions on a flat plain with recurrently drying inland water reservoirs in a semiarid paleoclimate with well-pronounced seasons.     

Coatings in cryoaridic soils and other records of landscape and climate changes in the Ak-Khol Lake basin (Tyva)

An assemblage of coatings in cryoaridic soils (Skeletic Cambisols Protocalcic) of southwestern Tyva is considered as a key block of soil memory, which is an intrasoil archive of landscape and climate changes in regional geosystems in the Holocene. The results of hierarchical macro-, meso-, and micromorphological studies of a large assemblage of coatings and the data on the X-ray microanalysis of coatings and composition of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, as well as on radiocarbon dating of coatings are presented. The synthesis of the results made it possible to reconstruct the main evolutionary phases of cryoaridic soils in the Holocene and landscape and climate changes that induced their alteration. The following climatogenic evolutionary phases of pedogenesis were distinguished: (1) formation of microsparite–micritic dense silica-containing coatings due to short-term fluctuations of the shallow alkaline bicarbonate groundwater level in the semiarid–arid climate; (2) formation of sparitic dense coatings under the slow accumulation of carbonates from low-mineralized bicarbonate water at the higher lake level as compared to the present one in the less arid conditions; (3) the eluvial-illuvial formation of micritic loose coatings under stable automorphic semiarid conditions; (4) formation of Fe-humus coatings in cool humid climate (Al–Fe-humus phase of pedogenesis); (5) the recommencement of the eluvial-illuvial formation of micritic loose coatings under aridization of the last thousand years of the Holocene.     

Mycological complexes in Holocene and Late Pleistocene paleohorizons and in fragments of paleosols

Fragments of buried Late Pleistocene (30000-year-old) and Early Holocene (10000-year-old) paleosols contained viable complexes of microscopic fungi. The mycobiota of these paleosols represents a pool of fungal spores that is lower in number and species diversity as compared to that in the recent humus horizons and higher than that in the inclosing layers. The central part of the paleosol profiles is greatly enriched in microscopic fungi. In the intact humus horizons of the Late Holocene (1000–1200 years) paleosols, actively functioning fungal complexes are present. These horizons are characterized by their higher level of CO₂ emission. The buried horizons, as compared to the recent mineral ones, contain a greater fungal biomass (by several times) and have a higher species diversity of microscopic fungi (including fungi that are not isolated from the recent horizons). Nonsporulating forms are also present there as sterile mycelium. The seasonal dynamics of the species composition and biomass of the fungal complexes were more prominent and differed from those inherent to the surface soil horizons. In the buried humus horizons, the dynamics of the fungal biomass were mainly due to the changes in the content of spores. The data on the composition of the fungal complexes in the buried soils confirm (due to the presence of stenotopic species) the results of paleobotanic analyses of the past phytocenoses or do not contradict them.     

Humus in paleosols of archaeological monuments in the dry steppes of the Volga-Don interfluve

Traditional chemical methods and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy were used to study the humus in chestnut paleosols buried under kurgans of different ages (the 16th–15th centuries BC; the 1st, 2nd–3rd, and 13th–14th centuries AD) and under the Anna Ioanovna Rampart (1718–1720) and in their recent analogues on virgin plots. It was found that the decrease in the humus content of the paleosols as a result of the diagenetic processes is exponentially related to the age of the soil burial. The loss of humus from the upper 30 cm of the paleosol buried 3500 yrs ago amounted to 76 ± 14%, and this system did not reach a stationary state. The constants of the humus mineralization in the paleosols were determined. A tendency for an increase in the degree of the organic matter humification in the chestnut soils during the past 3500 yrs was found. With an increase in the age of the burial, the portion of aromatic structures in the structure of the humic acids increased and the portion of aliphatic fragments decreased. The cyclic changes in the composition of the humus related to the secular variations in the climatic humidity were identified.     

Dynamics of the properties of steppe paleosols of the Sarmatian time (2nd century BC-4th century AD) in relation to secular variations in climatic humidity

Paleosols buried under kurgans of the Early (2nd-1st centuries BC), Middle (1st-2nd centuries AD) and Late (2nd-IV centuries AD) Sarmatian epochs were studied in dry steppes and desert steppes of the Lower Volga region (the Privolzhskaya and Ergeni Uplands and the Caspian Lowland). It was found that temporal variations in the morphological, chemical, microbiological, and magnetic properties of the paleosols in the interval of 2200–1600 BP were characterized by the cyclic pattern related to secular dynamics of climatic humidity with changes in the mean annual precipitation of ±30–50 mm. These climate changes did not transform chestnut paleosols and paleosolonetzes at the type or subtype taxonomic levels. However, they led to certain changes in the humus, carbonate, and salt profiles of the soils; in the character of solonetzic horizon B1; and in the state of microbial communities. According to these data, the Sarmatian time was characterized by alternation of micropluvial and microarid stages lasting fro about 100–200 years. In particular, the stages of humidization were observed in the 1st century BC-1st century AD and in the 4th century AD; the most arid conditions were observed in the second half of the 2nd and the first half of the 3rd century AD.     

Root–soil adhesion as affected by crop species in a volcanic sandy soil of Mexico

Field observations have shown that root residues maintain root-adhering soil for several months after harvest. The aim of this work was to compare post-harvest effect of Amaranthus hypochondriacus (amaranth), Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean) and Zea mays (maize) roots on root-adhering soil, aggregation and organic carbon content. The experimental site was located on a volcanic sandy soil (Typic Ustifluvent) in the Valley of Mexico. In 1999 and 2000, maize had the highest root mass (92 and 94 g m⁻²) and the highest root-adhering soil (9051 and 5876 g m⁻²) when a root–soil monolith of 0.20 m × 0.20 m × 0.30 m was excavated after harvest. In contrast, bean roots (2 and 5 g m⁻²) had only 347 and 23 g m⁻² of adhering soil per monolith in each year. Amaranth had intermediate values between maize and bean. Dry soil aggregate classes (<0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 5 and >5 mm) were similarly distributed among the three species. The sum of the three soil macro-aggregates classes >1 mm was 0.1 g g⁻¹ in both years. Neither water stability of the 2–5 mm aggregates (0.05–0.09 g g⁻¹) nor soil organic C (SOC) in three aggregate classes (<0.25, 1–2 and >5 mm; mean 14.6 mg g⁻¹) was affected by species (P < 0.05) in either year. Observations of thin sections (10× and 40×) revealed absence of macro-aggregates under maize. Soil compaction was attributed to high mass of maize roots in the sampled soil volume. Root systems sampled after harvest had the capacity to maintain a well structured soil mass, which was proportional to root mass. Root-adhering soil measured in the field could be used to select species promoting soil adhesion by roots.     

Soil P fractions in a volcanic soil chronosequence of Central Mexico and their relationship to foliar P in pine trees

Phosphorus (P) is a major plant nutrient, however, its availability in volcanic ash soils is presumed to be small, due to its specific sorption on short‐range order minerals. We analyzed distinct P fractions in volcanic ash soils of different age (60 to > 100,000 y BP) under pine forests in Central Mexico to investigate their changes along a chronosequence of Regosols, Andosols, and Lixisols, and to evaluate if P availability limits tree growth at any particular stage. Top soil and subsoil samples were first analyzed by the Tiessen and Moir method, which failed to extract exhaustively “organic” and “occluded P”, and “P associated with apatite”. Therefore, we modified the fractionation scheme by including a “recalcitrant organic P” fraction obtained from the difference between P determined in air‐dried subsamples and subsamples burned at 300°C; P adsorbed to short‐range order minerals was assessed in an extraction with NH₄‐oxalate, and P in primary minerals by subtracting the sum of all other fractions from total P contents determined by XRF. This we did after discovering that primary P occurred in the form of fluorapatite included in plagioclase, volcanic glass or olivine. We also measured P contents in pine needles and related these with the “mobile soil P” fractions. The results show that “organic P” reaches maximum contents in 10,000‐y old soil, as does P associated with short‐range order minerals, while P occluded into crystalline oxides increases constantly over time. After 100,000 y, 31% of total P still remains in the form of primary P in A horizons. “Mobile P” was constant > 40 mg kg^?1 in Regosols and Andosols and related positively with foliar P contents, which were within adequate nutritional ranges. Only in Lixisols small “mobile P” concentrations in soil correspond with inadequate P contents in pine needles.     

Polygenetic Soils of the North-Central Part of the Gangetic Plains: A Micromorphological Approach

Micromorphology indicates that soils of the central part of the Gangetic Plains are polygenetic. They occur on surfaces originating at 13 500, 8000, 2500, >500 and <500 BP (QGH5 to QGH1, respectively). The QGH5 soils on upland interfluves show degraded illuvial clay pedofeatures of an early humid phase (13 500–11 000 BP) and thick (150–200 μm) microlaminated clay pedofeatures of a later humid phase (6500–4000 BP). The earlier clay pedofeatures were degraded by bleaching, loss of preferred orientation, development of a coarse speckled appearance and fragmentation, whereas those of the later phase are thick, smooth and strongly birefringent microlaminated clay pedofeatures. The illuviation was more extensive during the later phase, as indicated by enrichment of groundmass as discrete pedofeatures of clay intercalations. Pedogenic carbonate was formed during the intervening dry phase from the early Holocene to 6500 BP. It forms irregularly shaped nodules of micrite and diffuse needles with inclusions of soil constituents. The subsequent change to wetter conditions caused dissolution–reprecipitation, which resulted in partial to complete removal of carbonate from soils over large areas.     

气候和土地利用变化对潮白河流域径流变化的定量影响

为量化气候和土地利用变化对流域径流的影响,该文以华北土石山区潮白河流域为研究对象,利用AWY(annual water yield)模型及分离评判法定量分析了1956-2010年气候和土地利用变化对流域年径流的影响。结果表明:研究时段内,潮白河流域年降水量和年径流量呈显著下降趋势;流域年径流量在1979年发生减少突变;气候变化是潮河、白河流域年径流减少的主要原因,贡献率分别为59.3%和93.5%;土地利用变化贡献率相对较小,分别为40.7%和6.5%;不同土地利用类型对流域年径流变化的影响差异较大:林地对径流变化贡献率平均达到67%,耕地和草地分别为18%和15%,水域、未利用地因所占面积比例小,与流域年径流变化相关性并不显著。研究结果可为流域内水土资源规划及管理提供参考。     

渭北旱塬区典型农业耕作土壤微形态分形研究

利用分形几何的方法,对渭北旱塬典型旱作农业土壤微形态的分形特征进行了研究.在对土壤薄片详细观察的基础上,以土壤微形态数字图像为基础,利用SISC IAS V8.0 软件提取了土壤孔隙与粗颗粒的有关参数,并用计盒维数法计算了其分形维数.结果表明,土壤孔隙分形维数与孔隙率、孔隙面积和周长呈现较好的相关性(依次为0.778 74,0.685 58,0.814 87),粗颗粒分形维数与粗颗粒的含量、面积和周长也呈现较好的相关性(相关系数依次为0.984 18,0.984 06,0.930 10).说明了利用土壤微形态获得的土壤分形维数能够反映土壤结构的空间分布和变异规律,也反映了农业耕作活动对土壤的影响.     

Comparative micromorphology of two late Pleistocene paleosols (in the Paris Basin)

The micromorphology of two late Pleistocene paleosols in the Paris Basin, St. Pierre-les-Elbeuf and Bois du Moulin were studied in order to characterize their pedogenicand sedimentary processes and to reconstruct and interpret the pedosedimentary history and climate of each profile. The micromorphological observations of greatest interpretive value were the types of clayey and silty textural accumulations (argillans and siltans), pedality and porosity; of lesser value were papules, bioactivity and concretions.During the last interglacial period on both profiles developed a sol brun lessivé, comparable to those developed during the Holocene. With the onset of cold conditions of the last Glaciation, the two differentiate pedologically and sedimentologically. At Elbeuf, in the Seine Valley, we observe colluviation of silts and the development of grey forest soils with strong textural degradation under cold and moderately dry local conditions. At Moulin, on the plateau the grey forest phase is very weak and probably brief and is followed by a marked phase of churning and eluviation of silt; conditions were wetter than in the valley, such that the upland position protected the profile from colluvial truncation.The advantages of micromorphology in interpreting pedo-sedimentary sequences is discussed.