pedogenic carbonate formation recrystallization versus migration process rates and periods assessed by 14c labeling 1 under arid to semihumid climatic conditions dissolution of primary carbonate and recrystallization with carbon c from soil co2 leads to accumulation of significant amounts of pedogenic secondary carbonate most soils of arid and semiarid regions contain a carbonate accumulation horizon the depth of which is related to climatic conditions and properties of parent material it remains unclear whether this carbonate migrates from the upper horizons before or after recrystallization with soil co2 the aim of this study was to determine recrystallization rates during initial pedogenesis and to estimate the accumulation depth of secondary carbonate based on c isotopic exchange during secondary carbonate formation in an experiment with alternating moisture conditions maize grown on 1 m high loess filled columns was pulse labeled in14co2 atmosphere every 3 weeks after 6 months portions of secondary recrystallized caco3 were determined in 5 cm segments based on 14c respired in the rhizosphere and subsequently incorporated into newly formed secondary carbonate more than 80 of recrystallized carbonate ca14co3 was leached from the uppermost 15 cm of the loess column and more than 70 of total secondary carbonate were accumulated in a depth between 15 and 50 cm based on the recrystallization rate calculated for the uppermost 15 cm of the loess column 1 77 0 26 10 5 day 1 between 300 and more than 1 700 years are necessary for complete decalcification of the upper 15 cm our modeled data are consistent with formation of calcic horizons under relatively humid conditions

pedogenic carbonate proxies for amount and seasonality of precipitation in paleosols the depth to carbonate nodular bk horizon in soils d in cm is correlated with mean annual precipitation p in mm so that bk horizons are deep in subhumid regions but shallow in semiarid regions previous quantifications of this relationship are unchanged by this new compilation of 807 soils p 137 24 6 45 d 0 013 d 2 where r 2 0 52 and standard error s e 147 mm in most north american postglacial soils the bk horizon is thin and well defined whereas in monsoonal tropical soils of pakistan and kenya the bk horizon is thick and diffuse data from 675 modern soils define the relationship between the thickness of soil with nodules t in cm and mean annual range of precipitation m in mm difference between monthly means of wettest and driest months m 0 79 t 13 71 where r 2 0 58 and s e 22 mm the relationship between carbonate nodule size s in cm and soil age a in ka is quantified by 9 radiocarbon dated soils from las cruces new mexico a 3 92 s 0 34 where r 2 0 57 and s e 1 8 k y these transfer functions are applied to reconstructing paleoclimatic change from paleocene eocene paleosols of the north horn formation and flagstaff limestone of axhandle canyon utah the terminal paleocene spike of warmth recorded by fossil plants in nearby wyoming was coincident with a brief peak in both mean annual precipitation and mean annual range of precipitation in utah

coexisting goethite and gibbsite from a high paleolatitude 55 n late paleocene laterite concentration and 13c 12c ratios of occluded co2 and associated organic matter abstract a late paleocene 60 ma bp lateritic soil from northern ireland the antrim paleosol herein referred to as nire contains coexisting goethite gibbsite phyllosilicate and hematite the fe iii oxides exhibit pisolitic and liesegang type morphologies that are mutually exclusive in hand specimens x ray diffraction xrd measurements of al substituted for fe in goethite indicate two populations 1 low al liesegang type goethites 0 mol al and 2 high al pisolitic goethites 9 to 24 mol al selective dissolution and incremental vacuum dehydration decarbonation were used to determine the concentration and 13c values of co2 occluded in the respective structures of the goethites and gibbsites in this complex mixture of nire lateritic minerals the fe co3 oh component in the high al goethites appears to retain a proxy carbon isotopic record of vadose zone co2 in the ancient soil the 13c values of co2 occluded in coexisting goethites and gibbsites indicate that these minerals did not form in equilibrium with the same environmental co2 the measured mole fractions x of fe co3 oh in the high al goethites range from 0 0059 0 0005 to 0 0077 0 0006 and correspond to soil co2 concentrations of 28 000 to 37 000 ppmv the average values of x and 13c for the four high al goethites are 0 0067 0 0007 and 20 1 0 5 respectively the 13c value of the organic matter undergoing oxidation in this midlatitude 55 n late paleocene soil appears to have been 28 2 taken together these data indicate an atmospheric co2 concentration of 2400 ppmv 1200 ppmv at 60 ma bp the inferred high concentration of atmospheric co2 would have been coincident with the warm global climate of the late paleocene and is consistent with the idea that co2 plays an important role in climate variation

depth to pedogenic carbonate horizon as a paleoprecipitation indicator comment and reply royer 1999 1 has recently used a large data set from the u s natural resources conservation service nrcs to reexamine the relationship between mean annual precipitation and depth to the calcic horizon in soils the extremely poor correlation between these variables in his nrcs data r2 0

the permian moradi formation of northern niger paleosol morphology petrography and mineralogy abstract three basic paleosol morphologies named type a type b and type c are described from the middle upper permian strata of the moradi formation tim mersoi basin northern niger the moradi formation is a typical alluvial redbed succession dominated by red mudrocks with fine to coarse grained pebbly channel sandstones and matrix breccias type a paleosols are hosted by well sorted fine to medium grained trough cross bedded and massive sandstones and preserve abundant vertical to horizontal micritic and microspar calcite tubules interpreted as rhizoliths lateral variability of rhizoliths in type a paleosols and their close association with fluvial channel fill sediments suggests they are the roots of grove stands of phreatophytic vegetation that grew within unstable anabranching stream systems type b paleosols are hosted by mudrocks and preserve well developed ped structure abundant micritic calcite nodules and vertically stacked micritic calcite nodular bodies as well as rare calcite with satin spar texture interpreted as a pseudomorphic replacement of pedogenic gypsum the morphology of type b paleosols suggests they were formed in well drained floodplain deposits on stable landforms type c paleosols are similar to type b but preserve pedogenic structures indicative of soil volume expansion and contraction as well as more abundant stage ii pedogenic carbonate nodules the morphology of type c paleosols suggests that they developed periodically rather than seasonally in poorly drained deposits that nevertheless occupied a relatively stable part of the landscape such as the plains flanking ephemeral lakes or sabkhas x ray diffraction analysis of the the range of morphologies petrographic textures and mineralogy of the paleosol profiles indicates semi arid to hyper arid climatic setting this paleoclimatic reconstruction is in agreement with middle and late permian conceptual paleoclimate models and quantitative general circulation models nevertheless and in spite of an arid climate moradi paleosols and their host strata also indicate a relatively shallow groundwater table importantly this shallow groundwater resource undoubtedly helped to support the moderately diverse fossil vertebrate assemblage and large stature macrophytes preserved in the moradi formation

carbon isotopes in continental weathering environments and variations in ancient atmospheric co2 pressure abstract abundance and carbon isotope data from an fe co3 oh component in apparent solid solution in oolitic goethites have been used to infer ancient atmospheric co2 pressures a test of the validity of these estimates might be comparisons of the carbon isotope compositions of fe co3 oh in oolitic goethites with time equivalent pedogenic calcites temporal trends of the oolitic goethite and pedogenic calcite 13c values are generally similar but time equivalent samples from each of these two groups are not common in the existing data to facilitate discussion of the concept comparisons were made of available goethite and calcite samples even though ages of the compared samples in each pair were not identical in four out of the five comparisons fe co3 oh abundance and 13c data were combined with pedogenic calcite 13c data to calculate physically reasonable soil co2 concentrations for the ancient calcitic soids this suggests that the compared oolitic goethite and pedogenic calcite systems were responding to the same global scale phenomenon i e atmospheric co2 atmospheric pco2 as determined from the goethites in these four well behaved cases ranged from values indistinguishable from modern within analytical uncertainty to values up to approximately 16 time modern modern atmospheric pco2 was taken to be 10 3 5 atm one interpretation of the fifth anomalous comparison is that atmospheric co2 levels increased from about 3 times modern to about 18 times modern from the triassic into the early jurassic this inferred value for the pco2 of the early jurassic atmosphere is not uniquely constrained by the existing data and needs to be substantiated however even considerably lower early jurassic atmospheric pco2 values of 6 to 9 times modern i e 1 3 to 1 2 of the estimated value of 18 times modern would still indicate significant differences between the global carbon cycles then and now these results highlight the need for more research on the behavior of the atmosphere during and after the triassic jurassic transition

paleopedology and geochemistry of late mississippian chesterian pennington formation paleosols at pound gap kentucky usa implications for high frequency climate variations abstract climate during the late mississippian late chesterian in the southern appalachian basin was characterized by alternating periods of aridity and humidity pennington formation paleosols at pound gap record climate and ecological changes for latest chesterian time ending at the mississippian pennsylvanian systemic boundary forty paleosols were identified described and assigned to seven pedotypes inferred soil orders considered as analogs include histosols entisols inceptisols alfisols and oxisols but are dominated by vertisols classification of an oxisol was determined by field and geochemical evidence of intense leaching and kaolinite dominated clay mineralogy field and micromorphologicial evidence suggests a polygenetic character of the vertisols resulting from changing soil drainage through time variations in soil drainage are quantified using proxy estimates of inferred soil processes such as base loss leaching lessivage and oxidation using the cia k proxy mean annual precipitation map estimates range from 519 to 1361 mm yr changes in map correspond with variation in inferred soil processes the flora of this time period in response to variations in precipitation and soil drainage also changes through time as evidenced by changes in abundance and depth of root traces reconstructed ecosystems range from sparse vegetative cover with shallow tabular root systems in early pennington soil development to dense deeply penetrating root systems suggestive of arborescent floral associations at the top of the succession approaching the mississippian pennsylvanian boundary this study provides greater resolution of changing climate and pedogenic processes than what is provided in previous studies of late mississippian climate and suggests that the documented variability in paleosol types and soil drainage might represent the record of high frequency climate changes likely associated with expansion and contraction of the paleo intertropical convergence zone itcz

u pb dates of paleosols constraints on late paleozoic cycle durations and boundary ages u pb ages of paleosol samples from cyclothemic sections in the sacramento mountains of new mexico and the permian basin of west texas bracket the pennsylvanian permian and carboniferous permian boundaries linear interpolation and extrapolation to boundaries are accomplished by using cyclothems as periodic subdivisions the carboniferous permian boundary is 301 2 ma 2 the pennsylvanian permian boundary is 302 2 4 2 and the missourian virgilian boundary is 307 3 ma 2 these ages are within the uncertainties of recent estimates for the boundaries but are significantly more precise the average cycle duration for this upper pennsylvanian and lower permian interval is 143 64 ka 2 within the uncertainty of the 100 k y cycle that dominated pleistocene sea level history this new estimate which is much shorter than those published previously suggests that the pennsylvanian and early permian cyclothems may have been driven in a manner similar to that which caused glacio eustatic cycles of the pleistocene

paleosol classification problems and solutions abstract paleosols are soils that formed on landscapes of the geologic past three kinds exist buried exhumed and relict to help reconstruct paleoenvironments and for ease of comparison we suggest a property based classification system linked to genetic processes we use enduring properties because alteration of paleosols following burial is common morphological properties such as horizonation soil fabric root and worm casts and redoximorphic features are resistant to alteration and thus are valuable as criteria field observable and micromorphological properties degree of weathering and proportion of resistant minerals are also useful as criteria for paleosol orders total chemical analysis provides a proxy measure for base saturation and clay mineralogy we use proxy criteria to help classify paleosols that have changed markedly or have been lithified during or after burial to an earlier version of the system we add two new orders and include buried relict lithified and exhumed units at the suborder level our system clearly separates paleosol taxon names from those of all ground soils we use the prescript paleo at the order level and kryptic to designate the buried enduric to designate the relict lithic to designate the lithified and emergent to designate the exhumed paleosol suborders we use prescript modifiers to describe the physical characteristics of the paleosols and postscripts for parent material origin and the extensiveness of the paleosol landscape we present data and classify a number of paleosols as examples of the system

refining the pedogenic carbonate atmospheric co2 proxy and application to miocene co2 abstract quantifying uncertainty is essential for any paleoenvironmental proxy recent work on propagating error through the equation used to determine atmospheric co 2 concentrations from paleosol carbonates yields conflicting results small magnitude uncertainty from gaussian error propagation contrasts with larger magnitude uncertainty from monte carlo error propagation the discrepancy is reconciled here by revising partial differential equations for the gaussian approach uncertainties calculated using the two approaches are compared and applied to miocene calcic paleosols monte carlo propagated errors are asymmetrical but otherwise agree with gaussian errors three methods for assigning soil respired co 2 concentrations s z to paleosols are also compared a revised calibration of depth to the bk horizon as a direct proxy for s z is presented and although it results in lower atmospheric co 2 concentrations than the original calibration it results in significantly higher calculated atmospheric co 2 than the use of mean annual precipitation as a proxy for s z or assigning s z values based on soil order averaging atmospheric co 2 concentrations calculated using soil order based s z values from 10 penecontemporaenous and independent paleosols will likely result in useful constraints on earth system sensitivity the improvement of proxies for s z is needed to increase the accuracy and precision and to resolve potential volatility in co 2 time series

40ar 39ar geochronological constraints on the evolution of lateritic iron deposits in the quadrilatero ferrifero minas gerais brazil weathering profiles overlying the sapecado pico and andaime iron ore deposits quadrilatero ferrifero qf minas gerais brazil reach depths of 150 400 m and host world class supergene iron orebodies in addition to hosting supergene ore bodies of global economic significance weathered banded iron formations at the quadrilatero ferrifero and elsewhere e g carajas hamersley are postulated to underlie some of the most ancient continuously exposed weathering profiles on earth laser incremental heating 40ar 39ar results for 69 grains of hollandite group manganese oxides extracted from 23 samples collected at depths ranging from 5 to 150 m at the sapecado pico and andaime deposits reveal ages ranging from ca 62 to 14 ma older mn oxides occur near the surface while younger mn oxides occur at depth however many samples collected at the weathering bedrock interface yield ages in the 51 41 ma range suggesting that the weathering profiles in the quadrilatero ferrifero had already reached their present depth in the paleogene the antiquity of the weathering profiles in the quadrilatero ferrifero is comparable to the antiquity of dated weathering profiles on banded iron formations in the carajas region brazil and the hamersley province western australia the age versus depth distributions obtained in this study but not available for other regions containing similar supergene iron deposits suggest that little further advance of the weathering front has occurred in the quadrilatero ferrifero lateritic profiles during the neogene the results suggest that weathering in some of these ancient landscapes is not controlled by the steady state advance of weathering fronts through time but may reflect climatic and geomorphological conditions prevailing in a remote past the geochronological results also confirm that the ancient landsurfaces in the quadrilatero ferrifero probably remained immune to erosion for tens of millions of years deep weathering mostly in the paleogene combined with low erosion rates account for the abundance and widespread distribution of supergene iron manganese and aluminum orebodies in this region

mass balance reconstruction of a modern vertisol implications for interpreting the geochemistry and burial alteration of paleo vertisols abstract utilizing identical sampling and analytical techniques the morphological and chemical characteristics of a modern vertisol houston black series central texas can be directly compared with an upper mississippian paleo vertisol from the appalachian basin pennington formation east central tennessee mass balance reconstructions suggest retention of primary pedochemical patterns in the paleo vertisol including patterns of soil volume change strain and transport functions translocations of many major and trace elements retention of primary pedochemical patterns suggests that vertisols constitute nearly closed systems during burial diagenesis chemical and mineralogical changes associated with burial diagenesis of the paleo vertisol include oxidation of organic carbon oc illitization of smectites dehydration and recrystallization of fe mn oxyhydroxides and dolomitization of pedogenic calcite significant differences in the chemical behavior of gilgai microhigh and microlow pedons in modern vertisols have implications for interpretation of geochemical data obtained from paleo vertisols overall wetter soil conditions and variable redox potential under gilgai microlows promote greater depths of leaching and mobility of redox sensitive trace elements including co cr cu mn ni and v gilgai microhighs behave as evaporative wicks that draw moisture and soluble phases towards the soil surface resulting in precipitation of metal hydrosylate complexes and sulfates gypsum at the capillary fringe and shallower depths of leaching and fixation of trace elements paleoprecipitation estimates from paleosols based on the depth to the top of the pedogenic carbonate horizon should therefore utilize field petrographic and geochemical data for characterizing maximum depths of leaching loss or gain of exchangeable bases and calcification rather than relying solely upon field data

determining terrestrial paleotemperatures using the oxygen isotopic composition of pedogenic carbonate abstract quantifying terrestrial paleotemperatures has proven to be a challenging endeavor this paper explores the use of the oxygen isotopic composition of pedogenic calcite for terrestrial paleotemperature reconstructions we generate three paleotemperature equations two of them derived by simultaneous solution of equations that describe the fractionation of oxygen isotopes in the exogenic cycle while the third equation is derived using a linear regression through modern 18occ mat oxygen isotopic composition of pedogenic calcite versus mean annual temperature data we use the paleotemperature equations to evaluate climate change across the k t boundary by analyzing the oxygen isotopic composition of pedogenic carbonates from a series of stacked paleosols in west texas the fabrics in the calcite nodules were evaluated in order to identify soil carbonate components that have the best chance of containing isotopic information that represents ancient pedogenic conditions the average temperature for west texas during the time period studied is 18 0 5 c two temperature excursions are recognized prior to the k t boundary in which terrestrial temperatures increase by about 4 c for relatively short periods of time these short greenhouse events documented in west texas correlate with changes in marine temperatures as well as terrestrial temperatures in north dakota during the same time period latitudinal temperature gradients generated using the west texas and north dakota data indicate that the spatial simultaneous solution yields the most reliable temperature reconstructions of the three equations considered in this study

oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions in clay minerals a potential single mineral geothermometer the opposite slopes of the isotopic fractionation of hydrogen and oxygen in the clay water system and the well known relationship between d and 18o in meteoric waters allow the isotopic composition of clay minerals to be used as a single mineral geothermometer equations can be derived which are valid for continental systems where meteoric waters are common the following equation was derived for smectite 3 54 106t 2 18osm 0 125 dsm 8 95 0 150 this equation was used to determine the isotopic composition and temperature of the waters involved in the transformation of volcanic rock to bentonite at the cortijo de archidona southeastern spain site the values obtained 6 t 21 c i e environmental temperatures confirm the reliability of this equation

permo pennsylvanian palaeotemperatures from fe oxide and phyllosilicate δ18o values abstract the oxygen isotope composition of fossil roots that have been permineralized by hematite are presented from eight different stratigraphic levels spanning the upper pennsylvanian and lower permian strata of north central texas hematite 18o values range from 0 4 to 3 7 the most negative 18o values occur in the upper pennsylvanian strata and there is a progressive trend toward more positive 18o values upward through the lower permian strata this stratigraphic pattern is similar in magnitude and style to 18o values reported for penecontemporaneous authigenic palaeosol phyllosilicates and calcites suggesting that all three minerals record similar paragenetic histories that are probably attributed to temporal palaeoenvironmental changes across the late pennsylvanian and early permian landscapes palaeotemperature estimates based on paired 18o values between penecontemporaneous hematite and phyllosilicate samples suggest these minerals co precipitated at relatively low temperatures that are consistent with a supergene origin in a low latitude soil forming environment hematite phyllosilicate 18o pairs indicate 1 relatively low soil temperatures 24 3 c during deposition of the upper pennsylvanian strata followed by 2 a considerable rise in soil temperatures 35 37 3 c during deposition of the lowermost permian strata significantly d and 18o values of contemporaneous phyllosilicates provide single mineral palaeotemperature estimates that are analytically indistinguishable from temperature estimates based on hematite phyllosilicate oxygen isotope pairs the results between the two temperature proxy methods suggest that the inferred large temperature change across the upper pennsylvanian lower permian boundary might be taken seriously if real such a significant climate change would have undoubtedly had far reaching ecological effects within this region of pangaea notably there are important lithological and palaeobotanical changes such as disappearance of coal and coal swamp floras across the upper pennsylvanian early permian boundary of north central texas that may be consistent with major climatic change toward warmer conditions

lower eocene alluvial paleosols pedogenic development stratigraphic relationships and paleosol landscape associations abstract two kinds of cumulative floodplain paleosols red and grey paleosols formed on overbank deposits of the willwood formation in the sand coulee area of the bighorn basin wyoming although both kinds experienced down profile iron movement due to seasonal saturation of a clay rich a horizon the red paleosols were better drained and their b horizons were rubified various redoximorphic features indicate that the grey paleosols were poorly drained the red paleosols show progressive increases in the degree of profile development away from an associated channel sandstone a paleosol landscape relationship termed pedofacies by bown and kraus 1987 although the grey paleosols show relatively systematic changes in hydromorphy consistent pedofacies changes were not recognized furthermore no lateral relationship between the red and grey paleosols was observed these features suggest that because of the retarding effects of poor drainage on soil weathering poorly drained soils are not amenable to pedofacies modelling and that the landscape associations of well drained and poorly drained soils may be difficult to document without unusually extensive exposures results of this study also show that the pedofacies model is limited by sediment accumulation rates and the kind of fine grained facies on which paleosols developed although readily observable in sand coulee pedofacies are difficult to recognize in the elk creek area where accumulation rates were approximately half as rapid as in sand coulee the attainment of steady state conditions is believed to have obscured pedofacies in the elk creek area finally pedofacies are only developed on true overbank deposits which in the willwood formation and probably many other ancient alluvial sequences make up only a fraction of the fine grained deposits only immature soils formed on the remainder of the fine grained facies because they were deposited very rapidly as a result of channel avulsion

late jurassic paleoclimate of central africa abstract paleopedology and geochemical analysis of upper jurassic deposits in the stanleyville group of central africa indicate harsh late jurassic paleoclimates in the interior of gondwana subsurface samples collected from the samba borehole near the center of the congo basin show only weak morphological evidence of pedogenesis but are characterized by an abundance of shrink swell vertic features and rare calcium carbonate nodules indicating seasonal variations in moisture availability and net soil moisture deficiency respectively x ray diffraction analysis of paleosol matrix material reveals the presence of analcime and the clay mineral palygorskite strong indicators of hot arid climatic conditions the 18 o and d values of clay minerals from paleosol profiles range from 22 3 to 25 4 and 44 4 to 39 6 smow respectively and correspond to crystallization temperatures between 25 c and 40 c these crystallization temperatures compare favorably with austral summer surface temperature estimates for central africa that result from late jurassic global circulation models calculations of soil co 2 production using the 13 c values of pedogenic carbonates and plant derived organic matter produce lower co 2 production estimates for the stanleyville group relative to the roughly contemporary morrison formation of the western u s these low soil co 2 production estimates provide further support for arid late jurassic climate conditions in the congo basin the paleoclimatic conditions inferred here from the stanleyville group are similar to those reconstructed from other upper jurassic african continental localities between 5 s and 20 s paleolatitude however penecontemporaneous terrestrial coastal sites within this latitudinal belt of gondwana retain evidence of generally wetter conditions suggesting that those regions may have received more rainfall than the continental interior the paleoclimatic setting reconstructed here from geologic indicators and geochemical proxies suggests that general circulation models accurately predict unique paleoenvironmental conditions that lack modern analogs

calibration of the clumped isotope geothermometer in soil carbonate in wyoming and nebraska usa implications for paleoelevation and paleoclimate reconstruction abstract recent work has shown that soil carbonates typically form as the soil dries after seasonal rainfall and therefore record seasonal aspects of climate rather than mean annual conditions because soil carbonate formation is closely related to the timing of local rainfall and drying it is necessary to understand the formation seasonality and temperature and soil water o 18 values recorded in modern soil carbonate before accurate estimates of stable isotope based paleoelevation and paleoclimate can be made here we study carbonate clumped isotope 47 and oxygen isotope o 18 compositions of modern soil carbonates and seasonal variations of soil moisture and temperature of nearby climate stations in wyoming and western nebraska usa to understand the seasonality of soil carbonate formation in semi arid to arid temperate montane settings we find that soil carbonate clumped isotope temperatures t 47 are 3 5 c higher than mean summer air temperature and are similar to or higher than average summer soil temperature at depths 40 cm soil moisture dramatically decreases in early summer following the cessation of spring rains and snowmelt and shows only brief increases after major mid late summer rain events soil water o 18 values calculated using carbonate o 18 and t 47 values are similar to the o 18 values of local mean summer precipitation these lines of evidence suggest that soil carbonates in our study area formed during times of soil dewatering in early summer and after major summer storm events in mid late summer and in or near equilibrium with mean summer precipitation o 18 values t 47 values of modern soil carbonates are inversely correlated with elevation with a lapse rate 4 0 c km similar to the modern air and soil temperature lapse rates calculated soil water o 18 values also are inversely correlated with elevation with a lapse rate of 3 7 km sample elevations can be reconstructed using both t 47 values and calculated soil water o 18 values between 900 m and 2600 m in our studied area with an accuracy of 0 5 km or less however o 18 values of precipitation and soil water reflect the complex interaction of climatic environmental and topographic conditions prior to carbonate formation whereas t 47 values may be influenced by site specific conditions we suggest that both soil carbonate t 47 values and calculated soil water o 18 values should be used to corroborate paleoelevation reconstruction and the seasonal nature of soil carbonate formation should be considered when soil carbonate t 47 values and o 18 values are applied for paleoclimate reconstruction

directly dating geologic events u pb dating of carbonates 1 carbonates are ubiquitous forming in a variety of settings including caves soils the oceans during burial from hydrothermal fluids and along faults u pb dating of carbonates is applicable to almost the entire geologic time scale with results from pleistocene speleothems showing great promise for dating records 1 ma old here we review studies of u pb dating of carbonates from a range of depositional and diagenetic environments and consider published results with regard to stratigraphic associations and the behavior of u and pb in various fluids we detail the steps required to select suitable samples summarize current laboratory techniques and provide directions for improvement of analytical protocols the u pb dating of carbonates has tremendous potential for dating events of geologic interest and is virtually untapped

palaeosols and sequence stratigraphy of the lower permian abo member south central new mexico usa the relationship between palaeosols and sequence stratigraphy is tested in the lower permian abo member south central new mexico by comparing interfluve and fluvial terrace palaeosols with palaeosols that developed within lowstand fluvial deposits interfluve and fluvial terrace palaeosols consist of primary pedogenic features including vertical root traces vertic structures stage ii and iii pedogenic calcite and translocated clay argillans which are cross cut or replaced by low aluminium goethite gley colour mottling sparry calcite veins and ankerite the polygenetic character of the palaeosols is consistent with initial development for several thousand to tens of thousands of years on well drained interfluves or fluvial terraces followed by waterlogging due to invasion by a rising water table that locally may have been brackish in contrast lowstand fluvial sediment that filled incised valleys contains only rooted and vertic palaeosols whose immaturity resulted from high aggradation rates palaeosols similar to those in the abo member have been recognized in other ancient strata and when combined with highresolution correlation provide evidence for interpretation of sequencestratigraphic surfaces and systems tracts

a pedogenic goethite record of soil co2 variations as a response to soil moisture content abstract the terrestrial carbon cycle and the role of atmospheric co 2 concentrations in controlling global temperatures can be inferred from the study of ancient soils paleosols soil formed goethite and calcite have been the primary minerals used as a geochemical proxy for reconstructing atmospheric p co 2 from ancient terrestrial records in the case of goethite optimum sampling strategies for reconstructing p co 2 focus on the portion of the soil profile that displays steep gradients in both soil co 2 concentration and 13 c values of soil co 2 such that a keeling plot can be developed for a given soil and atmospheric p co 2 can be calculated from it we report data from a carboniferous paleosol that depart from the expected linear trends the results indicate that pedogenic goethite is sensitive to variations in the isotopic composition of soil co 2 over a range of timescales and can record these variations in the carbon isotope composition and mole fraction of fe co 3 oh in solid solution with goethite we explore possible environmental conditions that can drive these changes as a function of either moisture controlled variations in soil respired co 2 or in the residence time of carbon in soils the implications of this result are overestimation of paleoatmospheric p co 2 from pedogenic goethite

the vesicular layer and carbonate collars of desert soils and pavements formation age and relation to climate change abstract the vesicular fine grained a horizon av is the widespread ubiquitous surficial horizon of desert soils in diverse landforms and parent materials of varying ages now known to form mostly through accumulation of eolian dust recent studies show that dust accumulation and concomitant soil development are genetically linked to stone pavement formation changes in the magnitude of eolian activity and effective leaching related to quaternary climatic changes are also hypothesized to have influenced the evolution of the av horizon numerical modeling geochronologic and field laboratory studies elucidate the nature of pedogenic processes controlling compositional evolution of av how the changing av horizon increasingly influences soil infiltration and carbonate translocation and accumulation and the control that clasts of the evolving pavement exert on pedogenic processes results of a model that determines soil bulk chemical composition based on mixing of estimated proportions of externally derived eolian material and parent materials imply that the evolution of the soil bulk composition is strongly influenced by av horizon formation the early development of a weakly to moderately developed av horizon directly over gravelly parent material in late and middle holocene soils moderately influences soil infiltration but significant leaching of very soluble materials and some carbonate in dust are permitted in older pleistocene soils however the texturally more mature av and underlying cumulic nongravelly horizons more strongly limit the rate and depth of leaching and soil bulk composition therefore more closely approximates a simple mixture of dust and parent material other aspects of av horizon development and its relations to the pavement are evaluated through studies of pavement clasts with coatings of soil carbonate referred to as carbonate collars development of a numerical model that integrates soil hydrology a co2 production diffusion model calcite kinetics and thermodynamic considerations composition and thermal characteristics of pavement clasts and the textural and structural properties of the surface horizon provides the basis for testing a hypothesis of collar formation model results combined with results of 13c and 18o analyses of collar carbonate demonstrate how precipitation of calcite on pavement clasts and within the av is favored at a depth much shallower than that indicated by the classic carbonate depth climate relationship of jenny and leonard jenny h j leonard c d 1935 functional relationships between soil properties and rainfall soil science 38 363 381 and arkley arkley r j 1963 calculations of carbonate and water movement in soil from climatic data soil science 96 239 248 or simulated by numerical models of carbonate accumulation simultaneous development of thick carbonate collars and the av horizon requires the sustained pavement clast av horizon coupling for at least centuries to possibly millennia new thermoluminescence ages also indicate that much of the av horizon formed in the holocene and that it is certainly much younger than the older pleistocene pavements this supports the previously proposed hypothesis that increased dust flux during the pleistocene to holocene transition triggered and or greatly accelerated av horizon development an understanding of the genesis of collars provides not just an understanding of how carbonate can accumulate in surface environments but it also provides important clues into processes of pavement evolution and preservation of av horizons during long glacial periods the av horizon is not merely an insignificant surficial zone of recent dust accretion instead its development profoundly influences the genesis of desert soils and pavements

use of micromorphology for palaeoenvironmental interpretation of complex alluvial palaeosols an example from the mill creek formation albian southwestern alberta canada abstract field observations are often not sufficient for process based interpretations of palaeosols particularly where they form parts of thick aggradational pedocomplexes within alluvial successions under such conditions micromorphology provides genetic temporal and spatial information on soil forming processes that is critical to an understanding of past environmental conditions thick alluvial successions of the albian mill creek formation contain abundant evidence of pedogenesis but few well developed palaeosol profiles and therefore provide an ideal case study in which to demonstrate the usefulness of micromorphological data for palaeoenvironmental interpretation the micromorphological features of greatest interpretive value are types of clay coatings and ferruginous segregations structure and fabric papules evidence of bioactivity and ferruginous concretions provide information on geomorphic surface stability and assist in reconstructing temporal changes in drainage conditions while individual features can provide some palaeoenvironmental information the relationships of features to one another and assemblages of features provides additional information when analysed hierarchically to establish a sequence of sedimentologic and pedogenic events a common recurring sequence of palaeoenvironmental events subject to local variations can be recognized throughout the mill creek formation the presence of illuvial clay requires that water percolated through the soil and that the soil periodically dried out so that the translocated clay was retained dark reddish clay coatings indicate clay illuviation under freely drained conditions while pale yellow and silty clay coatings suggest that phases of free drainage alternated with phases of poorly drained or saturated soil conditions the presence of iron depletion coatings iron nodules and quasiferrans indicates that these units were at least periodically saturated and the occurrence of multiple overlapping phases within single thin sections demonstrates that redox conditions fluctuated strongly suggesting development in the vadose zone recent soils containing similar assemblages of features develop under warm temperate seasonal climates alternating phases of well drained and saturated conditions on the mill creek floodplains are attributed to changing sediment supply and local palaeogeomorphology rather than to any major regional climate change this type of process based micromorphological analysis should have broad application in other complex pedogenically modified alluvial successions and similar studies would lead to a more detailed understanding of ancient palaeoenvironments

oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of permian pedogenic phyllosilicates development of modern surface domain arrays and implications for paleotemperature reconstructions abstract mineralogic chemical and oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of 15 different phyllosilicate samples from permo pennsylvanian age paleosols of the eastern shelf of the midland basin of texas and the southern anadarko basin are presented mixtures of 2 1 phyllosilicates and kaolinite dominate most samples although some samples consist of relatively pure 2 1 phyllosilicates chemical and mineralogic data are used in conjunction with published thermodynamic data to calculate hydrogen and oxygen isotope fractionation factors for each sample in turn application of measured oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of the phyllosilicates to temperature dependent fractionation equations are used to calculate paleotemperatures of crystallization the d values of the phyllosilicates range from 69 to 55 the 18 o values range from 19 5 to 22 7 if these samples preserve a record of equilibrium with paleo meteoric waters the isotopic compositions of the phyllosilicates correspond to paleotemperatures of phyllosilicate crystallization ranging from 22 3 c to 35 3 c in particular the stratigraphic trend of calculated temperatures from midland basin samples suggests that early permian surface temperatures may have been up to 10 c warmer than those of the latest pennsylvanian

palaeosols as indicators of geomorphic stability in two old red sandstone alluvial suites south wales palaeosols fossil soils are abundant in the alluvial late silurian early devonian moor cliffs formation and rat island mudstone freshwater west formation of south dyfed south wales the palaeosols occur in thick mudstones deposited on floodplains under a seasonal semi arid climate and represent vertisol type soils simple single profiles are rare and most of the mudstone intervals exhibit complex overprinted profiles however a major difference exists between the palaeo vertisols in each of the two units studied the moor cliffs formation contains thick floodplain intervals with evidence of frequent erosion and reactivation of earlier soil horizons the associated coarser channel deposits mainly represent ephemeral streams the alluvial system was unstable flashy and prone to extensive stripping of stored floodplain sediment arroyos unstable ephemeral stream channels probably developed during this interval evidence for any marine influence on soil development is missing and previous speculations that the formation may represent deposition in an upper intertidal or supratidal system are not supported the rat island mudstone represents a complete contrast in that there was little or no stripping of floodplain sediments the channel deposits are typically of the fining upwards type representing more stable low sinuosity channels and with ephemeral stream floods by integrating the palaeosols a more detailed picture of the geomorphic history of these units can be formulated comparison with contemporary drainage basins indicates that a change in climate was a possible cause for the differences between the two units less frequent and more severe storms occurring during the deposition of the rat island mudstone

modern soil system constraints on reconstructing deep time atmospheric co2 abstract paleosol carbonate based estimates of paleo atmospheric co 2 play a prominent role in constraining radiative forcing and climate sensitivity in the deep time large uncertainty in paleo co 2 estimates made using the paleosol carbonate co 2 barometer however arises primarily from their sensitivity to soil respired co 2 s z this parameter is poorly constrained due to a paucity of soil co 2 measurements during carbonate formation in modern soils and a lack of widely applicable proxies of paleo soil co 2 here the 13 c values of carbonate and soil organic matter som pairs from 130 holocene soils are applied to a two component co 2 mixing equation to define soil order specific ranges of soil co 2 applicable for constraining s z in their corresponding paleosol analogs equilibrium carbonate som pairs characterized by 13 c carb som values of 12 2 15 8 define a mean effective fractionation of 14 1 and overall inferred total soil co 2 contents during calcite formation of s z during calcite formation is 1500 2000 ppmv range of 500 2500 ppmv overall higher values 2000 5000 ppmv are indicated by the subset of these soils characterized by higher moisture content and productivity near atmospheric levels 400 200 ppmv of estimated s z are indicated by immature soils recording their low soil productivity vertisols define the largest range in total soil co 2 25 000 ppmv reflecting their seasonally driven dynamic hydrochemistry a s z range of 1000 10 000 ppmv is suggested for paleo vertisols for which calcite precipitation can be constrained to have occurred in an open system with two component co 2 mixing with a best estimate of 2000 ppmv 1000 ppmv appropriate for paleo vertisols for which evidence of protracted water saturation is lacking mollisol pairs define a best estimate of s z of 2500 ppmv range of 600 4000 ppmv for late cretaceous and cenozoic analogs non equilibrium pairs with 13 c values 16 make up 51 of the dataset lending support to the hypothesis that pedogenic carbonate precipitation occurs during periods of low productivity in a soil atmosphere with a large component of atmospheric co 2 predictable scaling between estimated soil co 2 and the difference in 13 c between measured pedogenic carbonate and that predicted to have formed from soil respired co 2 inferred from measured som can be used to further constrain appropriate ranges of s z for reconstruction of paleo atmospheric p co 2 soil co 2 estimates are poorly correlated to mean annual precipitation likely reflecting that for carbonate bearing soils where moisture limits co 2 production total soil co 2 is most strongly influenced by actual evapotranspiration

co2 forced climate and vegetation instability during late paleozoic deglaciation the late paleozoic deglaciation is the vegetated earth9s only recorded icehouse to greenhouse transition yet the climate dynamics remain enigmatic by using the stable isotopic compositions of soil formed minerals fossil plant matter and shallow water brachiopods we estimated atmospheric partial pressure of carbon dioxide pco2 and tropical marine surface temperatures during this climate transition comparison to southern gondwanan glacial records documents covariance between inferred shifts in pco2 temperature and ice volume consistent with greenhouse gas forcing of climate major restructuring of paleotropical flora in western euramerica occurred in step with climate and pco2 shifts illustrating the biotic impact associated with past co2 forced turnover to a permanent ice free world

palaeosol stratigraphy across the permian triassic boundary bogda mountains nw china implications for palaeoenvironmental transition through earth s largest mass extinction abstract upper permian and lower triassic palaeosols from northeastern tethyan localities exposed within the bogda mountains nw china provide a wealth of information regarding long term palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental variations wuchiapingian palaeosols are characterized by intense redoximorphy accumulation of vascular plant matter accumulation of clay minerals and fe oxides slickensides and clastic dikes suggesting a soil moisture regime that ranged from perennially wet to distinctly seasonal in soil moisture budget changsinghian to early induan palaeosols include subsurface accumulations of clay and carbonate as well as surficial accumulations of organic matter indicative of sub humid to sub arid soil moisture and variable soil moisture regimes induan to olenekian palaeosols contain pedogenic caco 3 accumulations and gypsum pseudomorphs indicating a drier environment characterized by net soil moisture deficiency elemental composition of palaeosol matrix was used to estimate palaeoprecipitation through the chemical index of alteration minus potassium cia k proxy estimates from various wuchiapingian strata indicate relatively stable palaeoprecipitation during the late changsinghian and early induan palaeoprecipitation appears to have decreased from 1100 to 230 180 mm year over less than 100 m of vertical stratigraphic section in the induan and olenekian palaeoprecipitation appears much less stable than in wuchiapingian with values vacillating from 290 to 1014 mm year the transition to a relatively unstable precipitation state coincides generally with the permian triassic boundary and may reflect climatic disturbances associated with the end permian extinction event in addition to altered atmospheric circulation patterns resulting from regional tectonics moisture availability and expansion of the subtropical high pressure belt

paleosols trace fossils and precipitation estimates of the uppermost triassic strata in northern new mexico abstract this study provides a detailed pedogenic evaluation of two upper triassic late norian through rhaetian stratigraphic intervals in new mexico in order to assess the climate and ecology of the latest triassic which ended in a mass extinction the two study areas are located in north central and east central new mexico and are separated by 200 km each section contains abundant paleosols of varying maturity with features that reflect an arid to semiarid climate there is little pedogenic variation throughout the strata at each location and a typical paleosol profile is about 1 m thick and has an ab bw bk bc horizon succession bkm bss bssk or bssg horizons are present in some paleosols micromorphological features suggest dominantly well drained sola e g abundant carbonate nodules illuviated clay with minor periods of moist or saturated conditions e g femn concretions femn coatings and hypocoatings sepic plasmic fabrics trace fossils are abundant in these strata and are dominated by taenidium serpentinum and root traces depth to carbonate functions estimate that mean annual precipitation was between 200 and 450 95 mm relative to location 1 eastern new mexico location 2 north central new mexico produced higher paleo precipitation estimates and has stronger and more abundant sepic plasmic fabrics in thin sections the presence of a gleyed paleosol camborygma eumnkenomos and slickensides at location 2 also suggests conditions wetter than at location 1 taxonomically all of the paleosols in this study appear to be entisols or aridisols and can be grouped into seven representative pedotypes of varying maturity by comparing these paleosols to modern soils this study demonstrates that the late triassic western interior during the late norian to rhaetian was arid to semiarid and supported a desert shrub environment that had localized and periodic moist or saturated soil conditions

18o 16o and d h in goethite from a north american oxisol of the early eocene climatic optimum abstract an early eocene oxisol in the ione formation of california formed in a coastal continental weathering environment at a paleolatitude of 38 n the dominant minerals in the oxisol are goethite quartz and kaolinite material balance calculations were applied to new measurements of chemical composition d h and 18 o 16 o ratios of oxisol samples to determine the d 150 3 and 18 o 2 4 0 3 values of the goethite feooh these data in combination with the global meteoric water line mwl yielded an isotopic temperature of 21 4 c the nominal value of 21 c contrasts with the modern mean annual temperature mat of 16 c in that area the warmer temperature is consistent with formation of the goethite during the early eocene climatic optimum the isotopic composition of the goethite and a temperature of 21 c imply ancient water with a d value of 61 4 and a 18 o value of 8 9 0 5 this early eocene 18 o or d value is more negative than values in the range of isotopic scatter observed for modern global precipitation at sites with a mat of 21 c at times of warm global climates the location of a near surface atmospheric isotherm would generally shift relative to its location under modern climatic conditions a simple rayleigh type condensation model indicates that if one follows the isotherm the associated scatter in d and 18 o of precipitation in very warm global climates should shift for a given isotherm to more negative values that may be detectable in proxy records the isotopic results from the goethite of the early eocene oxisol appear to add to evidence in support of this idea

general circulation model simulation of the δ18o content of continental precipitation in the middle cretaceous a model proxy comparison we use the genesis atmospheric general circulation model gcm with water isotopic transport and fractionation capabilities to quantify the influence of atmospheric co 2 sea level and elevation of the western cordillera on the 18 o of middle cretaceous precipitation the model predicts a systematic increase of nearly 3 in the 18 o of north american precipitation due to warming associated with an increase in co 2 from 2 to 12 times pre industrial levels in contrast the specification of lowstand conditions and a high ancestral western cordillera reduces the 18 o of north american precipitation locally by as much as 6 and 8 we compare the simulated 18 o of precipitation with the 18 o of paleosol siderite spherules and find good agreement only when the model includes lowstand conditions and a high ancestral western cordillera our results imply either that cretaceous high latitude paleosol 18 o was influenced by orographic precipitation and the western interior seaway or that the gcm9s hydrological cycle is deficient at high p co 2 additional paleosol data are needed to resolve this issue

influence of underground mining activities on the slope deformation genesis doubrava vrchovec doubrava ujala and staric case studies from czech republic abstract one the most important manifestation of underground mining activities is its potential influence on the initiation and reactivation of the slope movements however an adequate attention has not yet been paid to these problems the goal of this study is to analyze the possible influence of present and former mining activities on the selected set of model slope deformations in the ostrava karvina coalfield and also to describe a methodology for their observation for the application to similar conditions and influence three different methodologies applied in three different case studies of slope deformations where the subsidences are still active in the first case study doubrava vrchovec inclinometer was not used in the second doubrava ujala case study only one inclinometer was installed in landslide body and in the third case study sta ic two inclinometers were installed as one of them was inside of the landslide body while the other inclinometer was outside for evaluation of the impact isocatabase maps terrain deformation parameters calculated for the point lying on the slope deformation surface length measurement by zone extensometer and dilatometer measurement in cracks was also provided in order to show that inclination of both boreholes is an evidence of underground mining impact localization of inclinometer measurement on boreholes in the active part as well as in the near vicinity was found as very important thus the study contributed to a more objective knowledge of these problems of interest for the professional public and also for the state administration to solve problems associated with the utilization and settlement of such affected areas

a proxy for humidity and floral province from paleosols abstractwe develop a proxy to infer humidity from the geochemistry of paleosols in order to enhance reconstructions of ancient paleoclimate beyond trends in mean annual precipitation geochemical transfer functions developed herein are used to estimate net primary production and evapotranspiration along three latitudinal transects of modern soils in the coterminous united states mean annual precipitation and the degree of chemical weathering are estimated from the major element concentrations in soils the ratio of evapotranspiration estimated from our proxy and mean annual precipitation provides a method of determining the humidity province of ancient climates that is more robust and meaningful than previous methods and our approach differs from existing methods since both the influx and efflux of moisture are explicitly determined the required input parameters for application of this proxy are 1 the soil morphology 2 accurate and complete major element concentration data for the active soil

paleoelevation reconstruction using pedogenic carbonates paleoelevation reconstruction using stable isotopes although a relatively new science is making a significant contribution to our understanding of the recent growth of the world s major orogens in this review we examine the use of both light stable isotopes of oxygen and the new clumped isotope 47 carbonate thermometer in carbonates from soils globally the oxygen isotopic composition 18 o of rainfall decreases on average by about 2 8 km of elevation gain this effect of elevation will in turn be archived in the 18 o value of soil carbonates and paleoelevation can be reconstructed provided 1 temperature of formation can be estimated 2 the effects of evaporation are small 3 the effects of climate change can be accounted for and 4 the isotopic composition of the carbonate is not diagenetically altered we review data from modern soils to evaluate some of these issues and find that evaporation commonly elevates 18 o values of carbonates in deserts an effect that would lead to underestimates of paleoelevation some assessment of paleoaridity using qualitative indicators or carbon isotopes from soil carbonate is therefore useful in evaluating the oxygen isotope based estimates of paleoelevation sampling from deep 50 cm in paleosols helps reduce the uncertainties arising from seasonal temperature fluctuations and from evaporation the new clumped isotope 47 carbonate thermometer expressed as 47 offers an independent and potentially very powerful approach to paleoelevation reconstruction in contrast to the use of 18 o values nothing need be known about the isotopic composition of water from which carbonate grew in order to estimate of temperature of carbonate formation from 47 values using assumed temperature lapse rates with elevation paleoelevations can thereby be reconstructed case studies from the andes and tibet show how these methods can be used alone or in combination to estimate paleoelevation in both cases the potential for diagenetic alteration of primary carbonate values first has to be assessed clear examples of both preservation and alteration of primary isotopic values are available from deposits of varying ages and burial histories 47 values constitute a relatively straightforward test since any temperature in excess of reasonable surface temperatures points to diagenetic alteration for 18 o values preservation of isotopic heterogeneity between different carbonate phases offers a check on diagenesis results of these case studies show that one area of south central tibet attained elevations comparable to today by the late oligocene whereas 2 7 0 4 km of uplift occurred in the bolivian altiplano during the late miocene

a pedotype approach to latest cretaceous and earliest tertiary paleosols in eastern montana a pedotype approach to the study of paleosols emphasizes individual profiles it is an alternative approach to the study of geosols which are laterally extensive suites of paleosols or pedofacies which are pedogenically distinctive sedimentary facies this is the first pedotype study of paleosols across the cretaceous tertiary boundary in eastern montana pedotypes allow assessment of sedimentation and fossilization the sequence of paleosols across the cretaceous tertiary boundary at bug creek is one of high temporal resolution because most available geological time can be accounted for by differing degree of development inferred for each pedotype paleosols at bug creek include pedotypes that preserve plant fossils well but were unfavorable for preservation of fossil vertebrates pedotypes also allow reassessment of ecosystem change despite indications of catastrophe at the cretaceous tertiary boundary the array of paleocene and cretaceous pedotypes are not strikingly different the upper cretaceous hell creek formation includes pedotypes interpreted as gleyed alfisols inceptisols and entisols probably formed under seasonally water logged forest and mean annual rainfall of the order of 900 1200 mm most paleosols of the lower paleocene tullock formation were histosols but some can be interpreted as gleyed inceptisols and entisols probably formed under bald cypress swamps in a humid climate with 1200 mm mean annual rainfall broadly comparable pedotypes were present before and after the cretaceous tertiary boundary although paleocene flood plain forest lived in paleosols chemically a little more oligotrophic than cretaceous paleosols this modest difference supports the idea that change to coaly facies in the earliest paleocene was a local shift in sedimentary environment such local changes do not begin to account for profound disruption in specific composition of plant and animal communities at the cretaceous tertiary boundary in eastern montana

direct dating of weathering phenomena by 40ar39ar and k ar analysis of supergene k mn oxides abstract potassium bearing manganese oxides cryptomelane k1 2 mn3 mn4 8 o16 xh2oand hollandite k ba 1 2 mn3 mn4 8 o16 xh2o are often authigenically precipitated in weathering profiles the presence of structural potassium in manganese oxides makes these minerals datable by the k ar and 40 ar 39 ar methods dating of these phases allows us to time the progression of oxidation fronts during weathering and pedogenic processes detailed age resolution of the weathering history allows us to use deep weathering profiles as land based stratigraphic records of past climatic and geomorphic events complementing evidence from the marine sedimentary and paleontological record potential problems in manganese oxide dating such as ar and or k losses excess argon 39ar loss by recoil during neutron irradiation contamination by primary minerals resistant to weathering the presence of multiple generations of manganese oxides and proportionately low radiogenic ar yield due to adsorbed atmospheric gases are addressed the k ar and 40 ar 39 ar analytical results indicate that ar and or k losses excess 40ar and 39ar recoil seem not to pose problems in manganese oxide dating this investigation suggests that fine scale laser probe 40 ar 39 ar technique is most appropriate for dating of weathering phenomena because this technique permits us to identify contaminating phases and the presence of multiple generations of weathering minerals in the inherently complex mineral assemblage characteristic of weathering profiles k ar and 40 ar 39 ar dating of supergene k bearing manganese oxides formed during lateritization of archean and proterozoic bedrocks in the caraj s region amazonia brazil indicates that weathering started before 72 6 ma petrographic electron microscope and electron microprobe investigation reveal multiple generations of manganese oxide precipitation k ar and 40 ar 39 ar laser probe step heating results independently confirm the presence of these various generations of manganese oxides age clusters at 65 69 51 56 40 43 33 35 20 24 12 17 ma and zero age 0 2 0 2 ma suggest episodic precipitation of k mn oxides resulting from changing weathering conditions in the amazon throughout the cenozoic k ar and 40 ar 39 ar dating of supergene cryptomelane from weathering profiles in eastern minas gerais southeastern brazil suggests continuous weathering from 10 to 5 6 ma ago possibly reflecting local climatic conditions due to the proximity with the atlantic ocean

initial stages of laminar calcrete formation by roots examples from the neogene of central spain thin carbonate laminae formed by root activity are common within miocene detrital deposits of the duero and madrid basins the laminae are about 3 cm thick extending several metres laterally and displace the original detrital sediment which ranges in grain size from fine gravel to sandy clay the thickness morphology microstructure and stable isotope compositions of the laminae indicate that they formed by the activities of roots and associated microorganisms within the soil the laminae are similar to those commonly recognised in thick laminar calcrete profiles three types of laminae are recognised differences in the micromorphology of the laminae are explained as reflecting the different organisms involved and whether calcification occurred when the root was alive or decaying the first type occurs in a profile at paracuellos the jarama where the laminae consist of a mosaic of 20 mm calcite crystals whose arrangement indicates that calcification took place in the medulla of the root and probably occurred while the plant was alive in a second type in the villacadima profile laminae comprise calcified root mats whose formation indicates the interplay of roots and fungi calcification of the cell walls and intracellular spaces took place in the cortices of the roots and not in the medullas as revealed by the presence of central pores in every calcified root a third type of lamina is recognised in profiles at vin egra de moran a and consists of mucilaginous sheets coated by needle fibre calcite crystals the occurrence of associated small root casts indicates that formation of the laminae occurred while the root was decaying and was also influenced by fungal activity these laminae occur within poorly developed soils and their formation was controlled by the relationship between sedimentation erosion and soil formation processes thus the occurrence of these laminae interbedded with detrital sediments reflects environments where sedimentation was relatively low and episodic so after the detrital sediment input surfaces were stable and root mats were able to develop renewed sedimentation accounted for the death of the root mats and the development of new ones on the new surfaces where the sedimentation rate is lower the laminae tend to amalgamate and thicker laminar calcrete profiles form with little or no interbedded detrital sediment

multi proxy paleosol evidence for middle and late triassic climate trends in eastern utah abstract prior investigations suggest that alluvial lowlands of pangea in the southwestern u s a during the middle to late triassic experienced an arid to semiarid climate with significant seasonality our investigation finds evidence for a global pluvial episode from paleosols in the middle to late triassic section of eastern utah multi proxy paleosol evidence is used to quantify rainfall amounts ambient temperatures and atmospheric co 2 concentrations and infer associated plant formations related to ecosystem persistence rainfall estimates are derived from geochemical molecular weathering ratios temperature and atmospheric co 2 levels from stable oxygen and carbon isotopes of pedogenic carbonate respectively and ecosystem reconstruction by a combination of climate indexes and paleosol characteristics eight pedotypes were identified and include poorly drained aquic entisols fisher well drained non aquic entisols salt valley calcic aridisols castle valley calcic inceptisols moab cambic ute and calcic la sal vertisols dystric inceptisols kokopeli and argillic alfisols slickrock the middle triassic moenkopi formation anisian was dominated by castle valley paleosols with mean annual rainfall between 300 and 400 mm and mean annual temperature between 13 and 23 c mesic to hyperthermic based on these climate indexes and root traces the associated plant formation was most likely desert shrub or dry woodland the lower chinle formation carnian contains a succession of ute and la sal paleosols that changed up section to kokopeli fisher and slickrock paleosols in accordance with geochemical and isotopic signatures from these pedotypes rainfall amounts initially increased to between 700 and 900 mm and then to between 1300 and 1400 mm temperatures estimated from the la sal paleosol are approximately 18 c thermic at this time the lower chinle marks a transition from dry woodland to open forest that appears to correlate with the formation of the petrified forest member in arizona the upper chinle formation carnian norian reveals a return to semiarid to subhumid conditions and the formation of castle valley moab and salt valley paleosols all of which appear to have supported desert shrub or dry woodlands rainfall amounts decreased to between 400 and 600 mm with temperatures eventually increasing to 29 c hyperthermic using the paleosol isotopic barometer atmospheric co 2 estimates generally correlate with other proxy for the triassic the well developed alfisols and noncalcareous inceptisols identified during the carnian of the lower chinle correlate with a previously identified global pluvial episode based on sedimentological and marine isotopic evidence possibly in response to rifting of pangea it should not be assumed that the middle to late triassic in continental alluvial lowlands supported a uniform semiarid to arid climate with strong seasonality

argillic horizon development in calcareous soils of arid and semiarid regions of southern iran abstract ten representative pedons with argillic horizons from southern iran were selected for micromorphological and mineralogical study they were classified as haploxeralfs haplustalfs argixerolls argiustolls and argigypsids with thermic hyperthermic and mesic temperature regimes some of the argillic horizons were probably formed in a less arid previous climate during which carbonate migrated through the profile thus allowing clay to illuviate into deeper horizons thin sections showed few to no clear clay coatings in argillic horizons with greater clay content where shrink swell has disrupted them clay coatings superimposed on carbonate coatings and in turn covered by calcite indicate recalcification calcite depletion pedofeatures were the most striking features in these soils sodium may have played an important role in the dispersion of clay and formation of argillic horizons within two of the pedons studied a micromorphological index of soil evolution in highly calcareous arid and semiarid conditions is proposed it correlates with the content of free fe2o3 fedcb in fine earth the colour index the clay illuviation index and the smectite chlorite illite ratio the index can be useful for correlation of soils with argillic horizons formed on highly calcareous parent material in different landscape units new subgroups of haploxeralfs and argiustolls are suggested for inclusion in soil taxonomy based on the properties of some of the studied profiles

method for estimating spatially variable seepage loss and hydraulic conductivity in intermittent and ephemeral streams 1 a method is presented for estimating seepage loss and streambed hydraulic conductivity along intermittent and ephemeral streams using streamflow front velocities in initially dry channels the method uses the kinematic wave equation for routing streamflow in channels coupled to philip s equation for infiltration the coupled model considers variations in seepage loss both across and along the channel water redistribution in the unsaturated zone is also represented in the model sensitivity of the streamflow front velocity to parameters used for calculating seepage loss and for routing streamflow shows that the streambed hydraulic conductivity has the greatest sensitivity for moderate to large seepage loss rates channel roughness geometry and slope are most important for low seepage loss rates however streambed hydraulic conductivity is still important for values greater than 0 008 m d two example applications are presented to demonstrate the utility of the method

vertisol carbonate properties in relation to mean annual precipitation implications for paleoprecipitation estimates abstract previous publications combining the properties of multiple soil orders show that depth to carbonate dtc increases systematically between 350 and 1000 mm of mean annual precipitation map we hypothesize that carbonate in vertisols clay rich shrink swell soils respond differently to water flux than other soil orders because of lower permeability to test this hypothesis we compiled soil description and characterization data from multiple published sources across a late pleistocene climosequence of the coast prairie of texas to assess the relationship between map 700 1400 mm and dtc the dtc of carbonate nodules represents an index of accumulation and the dtc of calcium carbonate equivalent total carbonate 2 0 mm diam an index of leaching the dtc for 1 2 and 5 abundances were assessed using regression analysis the r2 values were highest for the dtc of 2 nodules and of 1 calcium carbonate equivalent in vertisol microlows surprisingly relatively high r2 values were calculated

regional paleoprecipitation records from the late eocene and oligocene of north america abstract the marine 18o record indicates precipitous cooling or significant expansion of antarctic ice volume across the eocene oligocene epoch boundary at 33 7 ma this climatic step is also found in estimates of decreased paleoprecipitation from paleosols in oregon montana and nebraska but is only a part of a long term decline across the eocene oligocene transition rather than a sudden shift this suggests that climate was driven by a gradual process rather than a single perturbation paleoprecipitation levels stabilized during the oligocene coincident with a stabilization in 18o values possibly indicating a new climatic steady state

cool climate or warm spike lateritic bauxites at high latitudes abstractlaterites and bauxites and their associated ultisols and oxisols are widespread in warm wet climates today and their spread to high latitudes has been attributed to episodes of past global warming bauxitic paleosols from the early eocene monaro volcanics of southeastern australia have been claimed as exceptions formed in a cool wet climate reexamination and chemical analysis of a sequence of intrabasaltic paleosols in the bega no 7 core of radiometrically dated monaro volcanics now show highly variable paleotemperature and precipitation the core includes 53 successive paleosols mostly nonbauxitic but bauxitic paleosols reveal local spikes in warmth and precipitation coincident with early eocene 55 52 51 and 48 ma global spikes of warmth precipitation and high atmospheric co2 these bauxitic paleosols thus formed in warm wet not cool dry climates and their poleward spread coincided with global greenhouse spikes

vertebrate extinction across permian triassic boundary in karoo basin south africa distinct assemblages of paleosols above and below the permian triassic boundary in the karoo basin of south africa are evidence for reorganization of ecosystems following this greatest of all mass extinctions the permian triassic boundary is recognized from the last appearance of dicynodon and from a series of negative excursions in the isotopic composition of carbon within therapsid tusks pedogenic carbonate nodules and organic matter the boundary is also marked by laminated beds with very weakly developed paleosols a change from purple 10r to brownish red 2 5yr paleosols and a thin 10 cm claystone breccia of reworked soil clasts paleoclimatic changes include a shift from arid and highly seasonal paleoclimate inferred from diffuse and shallow calcareous nodules in permian paleosols to semiarid and less seasonal paleoclimate inferred from deep and well focused calcic horizons in triassic paleosols an earliest triassic shift to warmer and wetter paleoclimate is also indicated by increased chemical weathering abundance of lycopsids and diversity of labyrinthodonts permian paleosols have root traces comparable to those of open shrubland and riparian woodland whereas triassic paleosols have root traces and profile forms like soils of open woodland this is a significant paleoenvironmental change but not as dramatic a change as would be expected from the devastating extinctions of 88 of fossil vertebrate genera latest permian therapsid reptiles were diverse and ecologically specialized in contrast the principal earliest triassic therapsid lystrosaurus was a burrower with no specific habitat preference its short internal nares barrel chest and high neural spines would have given it greater aerobic scope than preexisting therapsids and may have been an advantage under conditions of hypercapnia and hypoxia these adaptations and associated ecosystem changes are compatible with widespread vertebrate mortality by acidosis and pulmonary edema in a post apocalyptic greenhouse created by the voluminous release of methane from shallow marine and permafrost clathrates

paleosols as indicators of paleoenvironment and paleoclimate paleosols are ancient soils that have been incorporated into the geological record soils form in response to interactions among the lithosphere hydrosphere biosphere and atmosphere so paleosols potentially record physical biological and chemical information about past conditions near earth s surface as a result paleosols are an important resource for terrestrial environmental and climatic reconstructions long standing paleosol research topics include morphology classification and clay mineralogy all of which provide information about pedogenic processes and local paleoenvironments paleosols are also used to infer processes involved in the development of stratigraphic architecture and basin evolution recent paleosol research has introduced semiquantitative and quantitative measures for environmental and chronometric reconstructions that provide insight into major regional to global changes in temperature precipitation and atmospheric pco2 these new proxies focus on morphological and chemi

paleoenvironments of root casts from the koobi fora formation kenya a study of fossil mots and root casts from east turkana kenya has shown them to be useful paleoenvironmental indicators fossil root casts were obtained from the pleistocene upper member of the koobi fora formation deposited within the east turkana embayment of the lake turkana basin lithofacies and biofacies analysis of the study locality allows the discrimination of several important environments which contain root casts notably fluvial channels and shallow lacustrine conditions five common root cast morphologies have been observed 1 horizontal planar root mats 2 vertical or vertically branching structures 3 horizontal or horizontally branching structures 4 diagonally branching structures and 5 root balls concretionary structures root cast morphology is shaped both by the original root morphology and post mortem diagenetic development line transect surveys of fossil root casts reveal two striking lithofacies root cast associations laminated siltstones of the shallow lacustrine environment primarily contain root mats and horizontal roots whereas sandstone conglomerates of the fluvial paleochannels contain predominantly vertical and diagonal root casts with no root mats studies of plant associations in the lake turkana area and work on modern root morphologies suggest a probable explanation for these associations in arid environments water availability is a dominant factor in root morphology plants growing along intermittent streams or floodplains must frequently rely on perched water bodies or deeper phreatic water therefore sending out long vertical tap roots to take advantage of this resource plants living in permanent shallow lacustrine environments or other areas where phreatic water is quite shallow have no such requirement since their roots are nearly continuously immersed in ground water during floods the plant stalk itself is subaqueous the roots of these plants tend to extend laterally in thin mats over large areas thus a study of root cast morphologies may allow for an assessment of paleogroundwater conditions in nonmarine sediments

multiproxy approach reveals evidence of highly variable paleoprecipitation in the upper jurassic morrison formation western united states elemental analyses of paleosol b horizons in the upper jurassic morrison formation of the western united states provide estimates of mean annual precipitation map and allow determination of humidity regimes samples were collected from the lower morrison formation in new mexico and the upper morrison formation in wyoming and montana the chemical index of alteration minus potassium cia k and the calcium and magnesium weathering index calmag were used to estimate paleorainfall cia k values calculated for paleosols without shrink swell vertic features correspond to map estimates between 800 and 1100 mm yr 1 with an average of 1000 mm yr 1 calmag values calculated for vertic paleosols correspond to map estimates between 50 and 1200 mm yr 1 with an average of 700 mm yr 1 map estimates from the older new mexico strata indicate that early morrison environments were relatively arid map estimates from the younger wyoming and montana deposits reflect wetter conditions in the northernmost part of the morrison formation but the transition from arid interior environments was abrupt humidity provinces inferred from geochemical proxy based estimates of evapotranspiration and energy influx from precipitation range from semiarid to superhumid suggesting wetter conditions than the map estimates but supporting the relative differences in moisture among the three study areas paleoprecipitation patterns within the morrison depositional basin do not match the modern latitudinal distribution of rainfall that arises from zonal atmospheric circulation comparison with the upper jurassic lourinha formation in portugal and the vega formation in spain reveals that map in late jurassic portuguese environments was similar to that in the wet northern part of the morrison formation although more arid conditions prevailed in some areas of portugal inferred humidity regimes for the lourinha formation which range from semiarid to superhumid also indicate small scale geographic variability in climate although less pronounced than that observed in the morrison formation paleoenvironments in northern spain were similar to the drier morrison environments in the continental interior given the abrupt climatic transitions inferred here for the morrison formation paleoprecipitation estimates derived from a geographically restricted sample may reflect only local conditions and should not necessarily be extrapolated to larger areas

goethite calcite and organic matter from permian and triassic soils carbon isotopes and co2 concentrations abstract pedogenic goethites in each of two early permian paleosols appear to record mixing of two isotopically distinct co2 components atmospheric co2 and co2 from in situ oxidation of organic matter the 13c values measured for the fe co3 oh component in solid solution in these permian goethites are 13 5 for the lower leonardian 283 ma bp paleosol mcgoeth and 13 9 for the upper leonardian 270 ma bp paleosol sap these goethites contain the most 13c rich fe co3 oh measured to date for pedogenic goethites crystallized in soils exhibiting mixing of the two aforementioned co2 components 13c measured for 43 organic matter samples in the lower leonardian waggoner ranch fm has an average value of 20 3 1 1 1s the average value yields a calculated early permian atmospheric p co 2 value of about 1 pal but the scatter in the measured 13c values of organic matter permits a calculated maximum p co 2 of 11 pal pal present atmospheric level measured values of the mole fraction of fe co3 oh in mcgoeth and sap correspond to soil co2 concentrations in the early permian paleosol profiles of 54 000 and 50 000 ppmv respectively such high soil co2 concentrations are similar to modern soils in warm wet environments the average 13c values of pedogenic calcite from 9 paleosol profiles stratigraphically associated with mcgoeth waggoner ranch fm range from 6 5 to 4 4 with a mean 13c value for all profiles of 5 4 thus the value of 13c between the pedogenic calcite data set and mcgoeth is 8 1 0 9 which is in reasonable accord with the value of 7 7 expected if atmospheric p co 2 and organic matter 13c values were the same for both paleosol types furthermore the atmospheric p co 2 calculated for the early permian from the average measured carbon isotopic compositions of the paleosol calcite and organic matter is also analytically indistinguishable from 1 pal with a maximum calculated atmospheric p co 2 permitted by one standard deviation of the organic matter 13c value of 5 pal if however measured average 13c values of the plant organic matter are more positive than the original soil organic matter as a result of diagenetic loss of 13c depleted labile organic compounds calculated permian atmospheric p co 2 using these 13c enriched organic values would underestimate the actual atmospheric p co 2 using either goethite or calcite this is the first stratigraphically constrained intrabasinal study to compare ancient atmospheric co2 concentrations calculated from pedogenic goethite and calcite these results demonstrate that the two different proxies record the same information about atmospheric co2 the fe co3 oh component in pedogenic goethite from a triassic paleosol in utah is significantly enriched in 13c relative to fe co3 oh in goethites from soils in which there are mixtures of two isotopic co2 components field relationships and the 13c value 1 9 of the triassic goethite indicate that this ancient paleosol profile experienced mixing of three isotopically distinct co2 components at the time of goethite crystallization the three components were probably atmospheric co2 co2 from in situ oxidation of organic matter and co2 from in situ dissolution of preexisting calcite although mixing of three isotopically distinct co2 components as recorded by fe co3 oh in goethite has been described in modern soil this is the first example from a documented paleosol its preservation affirms the need for careful case by case assessment of ancient paleosols to establish that goethite in any particular soil is likely to be a valid proxy of atmospheric p co 2

soil co2 efflux simulations using monte carlo method and implications for recording paleo atmospheric pco2 in pedogenic gibbsite abstract monte carlo simulation testing of the sensitivity of the fickian diffusion model used for paleo pco 2 proxies indicates that assuming annual average soil respiration rate results in over estimation of pco 2 in all cases the natural variability of the factors of the model including soil porosity and inverse tortuosity and the 13 c value of the soil produced co 2 were not able to account for discrepancies between measured 13 c values from a modern soil and modeled results using established assumptions assuming that there is negligible carbon isotope fractionation during the occlusion of co 2 in pedogenic gibbsite the flaw in the model appears to be the assumed value of soil respiration rate if correct the implication is that previous paleo pco 2 estimates from soil hydroxides may be too high by as much as a factor of ten

a new paleothermometer for forest paleosols and its implications for cenozoic climate climate is a primary control on the chemical composition of paleosols making them a potentially extensive archive applicable to problems ranging from paleoclimate reconstruction to paleoaltimetry however the development of an effective widely applicable paleosol temperature proxy has remained elusive this is attributable to the fact that various soil orders behave differently due to their respective physical and chemical properties therefore by focusing on an individual order or a subset of the 12 soil orders whose members exhibit similar process behavior a better constrained paleothermometer can be constructed soil chemistry data were compiled for 158 modern soils in order to derive a new paleosol paleothermometry relationship between mean annual temperature and a paleosol weathering index pwi that is based on the relative loss of major cations na mg k ca from soil b horizons the new paleothermometer can be applied to clay rich paleosols that originally formed under forest vegetation including inceptisols alfisols and ultisols and halves the uncertainty relative to previous approaches a case study using cenozoic paleosols from oregon united states shows that paleotemperatures produced with this new proxy compare favorably with paleobotanical temperature estimates global climatic events are also evident in the oregon paleosol record including a 2 8 c drop across the eocene oligocene transition comparable to marine records and a neogene peak temperature during the mid miocene climatic optimum

vertisol genesis in a humid climate of the coastal plain of texas u s a numerous genetic studies of vertisols have been conducted using qualitative and semi quantitative methods across a broad range of climates however no detailed investigations exist on vertisols formed in humid climates using multiple pedogenic techniques on both a microlow ml and microhigh mh hence we sampled and characterized a ml and mh from a lake charles pedon mean annual rainfall 1090 mm mean annual temperature 20 c in the late pleistocene coastal plain beaumont formation of east texas according to the official series description the lake charles classifies as a fine smectitic hyperthermic typic hapludert with mollic and calcic diagnostic horizons coupled with field morphology and characterization data micromorphology and constituent mass balance interpretations were used to reconstruct the major pathway of pedogenesis in response to greater water recharge the ml contains darker colors more organic carbon greater depth of carbonate leaching and lower ph the proportion of oxalate extractable iron increases toward the surface and is in greater abundance in the ml than mh in contrast dithionite extractable iron increases with depth and has similar quantities in both the ml and mh the parent material and lower profiles contain asepic microfabric dominated by micaceous rich coarse clay and silt the asepic zone deep contains an abundance of soft carbonate masses and iron manganese segregations that appear to be forming contemporaneously with the presence of argillans substantiating clay translocation during the early history of soil formation sepic microfabric dominates the upper profiles of both the ml and mh in part from the transformation of biotite to smectite which is more pronounced in the microlow because of more intense weathering hard carbonate nodules and iron manganese concretions are abundant in the upper sepic zone and contain skelsepic microfabric suggesting that they are no longer growing dilation was the dominant strain force during pedogenesis from volume expansion in response to crack infills and shrink swell processes mass flux calculations indicate that total clay gains occurred in both the ml and mh during pedogenesis late pleistocene vertisols appear to approach steady state when forming in humid climates the soil mechanics model best explains the observed depth distribution of properties including slickensides with pedoturbation playing a secondary role in the genesis of these humid climate vertisols