Premium
Coppice Dunes and the Rotura Soil
Author(s) -
Gile Leland H.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1966.03615995003000050035x
Subject(s) - coppicing , geology , sand dune stabilization , vegetation (pathology) , horizon , pleistocene , geomorphology , earth science , ecology , paleontology , woody plant , biology , medicine , physics , pathology , astronomy
Early land survey notes and present conditions indicate that certain coppice dunes near Las Cruces, N. M. have formed since 1885. The Rotura soil, formed in mid‐Pleistocene sediments, occurs at the land surface between dunes but is buried beneath the dunes. The dunes overlie and preserve the pre‐dune surficial horizons, and the stratigraphic relationships thus preserved can be useful in genetic studies of thin upper horizons between dunes. Coppice dune materials are not presently recognized as individual soils but are designated by such terms as “hummocky phase”. Although no A or B horizon development is apparent in the dune materials, roots and fauna have locally mixed the sediments. Coppice dunes dominate the microrelief and occupy major portions of the land surface in many areas. In addition, most dunes are thickly covered with vegetation. An alternative interpretation, therefore, is that sediments of a coppice dune constitute a soil and thus should be classified and named.