| Affiliation: | 1.Instituto de Geología,Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México,San Antonio,D.F., Mexico;2.Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science,Russian Academy of Sciences,Pushchino, Moscow Oblast,Russia;3.Institute for the History of Material Culture,Russian Academy of Sciences,St. Petersburg,Russia;4.Faculty of Biology and Soil Science,St. Petersburg State University,St. Petersburg,Russia;5.Instituto de Geofísica,Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México,San Antonio,D.F., Mexico;6.Faculty of Soil Science,Moscow State University,Moscow,Russia;7.Biological Faculty,Moscow State University,Moscow,Russia;8.Fedorovskii All-Russia Institute of Mineral Resources (VIMS),Moscow,Russia |
| Abstract: | A sequence of five paleosol units (with seven individual paleosol profiles) buried in the Late Pleistocene (20–40 ka) deposits was studied at the Kostenki 14 (K14) key section in Voronezh oblast with the use of a set of morphological, physicochemical, and instrumental methods. The upper-lying paleosols differed from the lower-lying paleosols in the less pronounced gley features, stronger aggregation of the soil material, more significant accumulation of carbonates, and higher percentage of calcium humates and fulvates. These features attested to the higher aridity of the paleoclimate and the development of the upper-lying paleosols under grassy vegetation. Within the studied paleosol sequence, the most developed profiles were typical of the soils that formed 27–32 ka ago during the Bryansk interstadial. The good aggregation, the presence of features left by the soil fauna activity, the high magnetic susceptibility, and the morphology of the secondary carbonates in the studied paleosols suggest that they were formed under meadow-steppe vegetation in well-drained positions and resembled modern cryoarid soils. |
