Overview

As a text on paleosols, this book applies the expertise of soil science to ancient sequences of non-marine rocks. It provides an interdisciplinary bridge between the interests of soil scientists, sedimentary geologists and paleontologists, outlining the methods for the study and interpretation of paleosols, and sketching the long geological history of life and landscapes on Earth. Written principally for the student, this provides basic information on how to recognize, map and name paleosols; soil-forming factors most readily and reliably interpreted from paleosols; and addresses the evolution of soils. The book should serve both as a course text and as a professional reference. It is aimed at students and researchers in sedimentary geology, paleontology and soil science; archaeologists, paleoanthropologists and prehistorians concerned with environmental reconstruction.

Full Product Details

Author:   Gregory J. Retallack
Publisher:   Kluwer Academic Publishers Group
Imprint:   Kluwer Academic Publishers
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.819kg
ISBN:  

9780044457572

ISBN 10:   004445757
Pages:   520
Publication Date:   22 February 1990
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

One: Soils and Paleosols.- 1 Paleopedology.- 2 Soils on and under the landscape.- Some technical terms for soils.- Soils on the landscape.- Quaternary paleosols.- Paleosols at major unconformities.- Paleosols in sedimentary sequences.- 3 Features of fossil soils.- Root traces.- Soil horizons.- Soil structure.- 4 Soil-forming processes.- Indicators of physical weathering.- Indicators ofchemicalweathering.- Indicators of biological weathering.- Generalized soil-forming regimes.- 5 Soil classification.- Australian handbook.- FAO world map.- US soil taxonomy.- A word of caution.- 6 Mapping and naming paleosols.- Paleoenvironmental studies.- Stratigraphic studies.- Deeply weathered rocks.- 7 Alteration of paleosols after burial.- Compaction.- Cementation.- Neomorphism.- Authigenesis.- Replacement.- Dissolution.- Dehydration.- Reduction.- Base exchange.- Carbonization.- Two: Factors in Soil Formation.- 8 Models of soil formation.- 9 Climate.- Some classifications of climate.- Indicators of rainfall.- Indicators of temperature.- Indicators of seasonality.- 10 Organisms.- Traces of organisms.- Traces of ecosystems.- Fossil preservation in paleosols.- 11 Topographic relief as a factor.- Indicators of past geomorphic setting.- Indicators of past water table.- Interpreting paleocatenas.- 12 Parent material as a factor.- General properties of parent materials.- Some common parent materials.- A base line for soil formation.- 13 Time as a factor.- Indicators of paleosol development.- Accumulation of paleosol sequences.- Three: Fossil Record of Soils.- 14 A long-term natural experiment in pedogenesis.- 15 Soils of other worlds.- Soils of the Moon.- Soils of Venus.- Soils of Mars.- Meteorites.- Relevance to early Earth.- 16 Earth's earliest landscapes.- Oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere.- Differentiation of continental crust.- Precambrian scenery.- 17 Early life on land.- Did life originate in soil?.- Evidence for early life in paleosols.- Mother Earth or Heart of Darkness?.- 18 Large plants and animals on land.- Evidence of multicellular organisms in paleosols.- How did multicellular soil organisms arise?.- Putting down roots.- 19 Afforestation of the land.- Early forest soils.- A diversifying landscape.- A finer web of life on land.- 20 Grasses in dry continental interiors.- Early grassland soils.- How did grasslands arise?.- Evolutionary processes.- 21 Human impact on landscapes.- Human origins.- Early human ecology.- A tamed landscape.- On human nature.- References.

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