Soils of the Past

GREGORY J. RETALLACK, PHD, is a Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oregon, USA.

• Preface to the third edition viiPreface to the second edition ixPreface to the first edition xiAcknowledgements xiiiPart I: Soils and paleosols1 Paleopedology 32 Soils on and under the landscape 9Soils and paleosols on the landscape 10Quaternary paleosols 12Paleosols at major unconformities 13Paleosols in sedimentary and volcanic sequences 143 Features of fossil soils 17Root traces 17Soil horizons 24Soil structure 314 Soil-forming processes 49Indicators of physical weathering 49Indicators of chemical weathering 54Indicators of biological weathering 65Common soil-forming processes 745 Soil classification 81FAO world map 82US soil taxonomy 83A word of caution 966 Mapping and naming paleosols 97Paleoenvironmental studies 98Stratigraphic studies 103Deeply weathered rocks 1067 Alteration of paleosols after burial 109Burial decomposition of organic matter 111Burial gleization of organic matter 112Burial reddening of iron oxides and hydroxides 113Cementation of primary porosity 114Compaction by overburden 116Illitization of smectite 119Zeolitization and celadonitization of volcanic rocks 121Coalification of peat 122Kerogen maturation and cracking 123Neomorphism of carbonate 123Metamorphism 124Common patterns of alteration 125Part II: Factors in soil formation8 Models of soil formation 1299 Climate 133Classification of climate 134Indicators of precipitation 137Indications of temperature 145Indicators of seasonality 152Indicators of greenhouse atmospheres 15610 Organisms 161Traces of organisms 162Traces of ecosystems 185Fossil preservation in paleosols 19411 Topographic relief as a factor 201Indicators of past geomorphic setting 201Indicators of past water table 207Interpreting paleocatenae 21012 Parent material as a factor 215General properties of parent materials 217Some common parent materials 221A base line for soil formation 22513 Time as a factor 231Indicators of paleosol development 234Accumulation of paleosol sequences 246Part III: Fossil record of soils14 A long-term natural experiment in pedogenesis 25915 Soils of other worlds 263Soils of the Moon 264Soils of Venus 269Soils of Mars 272Meteorites 278Relevance to early Earth 28316 Earth’s earliest landscapes 287Oxygenation of the Earth’s atmosphere 292Differentiation of continental crust 303Precambrian scenery 30617 Early life on land 311Did life originate in soil? 313Evidence for early life in paleosols 324Mother earth or heart of darkness? 33418 Large plants and animals on land 337Evidence of multicellular organisms in paleosols 340How did multicellular land organisms arise? 34919 Afforestation of the land 359Early forest soils 361A diversifying landscape 367A finer web of life on land 373The shape of evolution 38420 Grasses in dry continental interiors 387Early grassland soils 392Evolutionary processes 401How did grasslands arise? 40421 Human impact on landscapes 409Human origins 414Early human ecology 418A tamed landscape 422Soil worship 428Glossary 431References 453Index 519