Premium
THE APPLICATION OF SOIL MICROMORPHOLOGY TO FOSSIL SOILS AND OTHER DEPOSITS FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
Author(s) -
DALRYMPLE J. B.
Publication year - 1958
Publication title -
journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 0022-4588
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1958.tb01911.x
Subject(s) - pleistocene , geology , colluvium , loess , paleosol , horizon , soil water , paleontology , ditch , soil horizon , archaeology , geochemistry , earth science , soil science , geography , ecology , physics , astronomy , biology
Summary In archaeological sites of Pleistocene and Postglacial age fossil soil horizons may be buried or form part of a composite soil profile when they may be either degraded or relic in nature. Since the A horizons of soils may be identified by their humus forms and the B horizon by their fabrics, both immature and mature fossil soil horizons may be identified and distinguished from man‐made deposits such as occupation layers and ditch fillings. Thus, micromorphology can be used as a geochronological technique for supplementing the existing knowledge of the mild and cold phases of the Pleistocene and to a lesser extent of the Postglacial. In mature fossil soils, since the fabrics of many B horizons are characteristic of certain soil types and are not altered by colluvial activity, it is possible to deduce something of the physiographic environment under which such fossil soil horizons were formed and, in particular, of the climate at the time of their formation. Thus, from composite soil profiles in archeological sections, relic fabrics have been observed and the primary origin of such colluvially derived soil material deduced. From buried profiles in loess sections of Europe the occurrence of braunerde fabrics with sol‐lessivé features confirms the other lines of evidence which suggest that the mild phases of the Pleistocene had similar climatic conditions and that these differ from those of today in the same area only in that the summers are today somewhat cooler and weetter.