Types of Geochemical Soil Catenas

By analogy with soil catenas, which are groups of related soils differing from one another as a result of variation in relief and drainage, the author suggests the existence of geochemical soil catenas, in which the lateral migration of chemical elements links the related soils of uplands, slopes, and depressions into a geochemical entity. On the basis of the conditions of migration, soils are divided into geochemically autonomous, eluvial soils on uplands and geochemically subordinate soils on slopes (transaccumulative situations) and in depressions (superaqueous situations). In humid regions, geochemical soil catenas are distinguished mainly on the basis of the mobility of iron and aluminum compounds; in arid regions, mostly in terms of the mobility of the sulfates and chlorides of sodium and calcium. Geochemical soil catenas in the periglacial situations of the Antarctic and the Tien Shan and in the humid subarctic situation of northern Scandinavia were investigated in the field. The field data and the available literature are used to construct a typology of the world's principal geochemical soil catenas and their determinant factors.     

西安地区全新世土壤的演变

野外调查和室内实验资料表明 ,西安临潼全新世发育了 4层土壤。其中有两层发育在较温湿的气候条件下 ,两层发育在较冷干的气候条件下。温湿条件下发育的土壤为棕色土与淋溶褐土 ,冷干条件下发育的土壤为典型褐土与粘化黑垆土。临潼与长安全新世土壤结构及粒度成分指示 ,自全新世中期的大暖期以来 ,西安地区气候环境呈明显的变干趋势。     

The effect of soil conditions on the long-term corrosion of buried tin-bronzes and copper

The object of this work was to relate the corrosion of tin-bronzes to the chemical condition of the soil in which they have been buried, most of them since the Bronze Age. Naturally, it was not easy to obtain recent hoards with their related soils, and considerable reliance had to be placed on recorded finds by taking recent soil samples from sites on which hoards were found over a hundred years earlier. Even so, with the exception of peat, a reasonable relationship appears to exist between the pH of the soil and the state of the metal. Acid soils are aggressive to metals and alkaline soils are benign. In no cases were sulphate reducing bacteria active in promoting corrosion. In the main, peat and peaty soils were benign in spite of their acidity, probably due to the protective action of polyphenols.     

Soil fertility and slope processes in the Western Cumberland Escarpment of Kentucky: influences on the development of horticulture in the Eastern Woodlands

The archaeological record of dry rockshelters in the Red River Valley of eastern Kentucky contains botanical remains of several weedy annual seed-bearing plants that point to the independent development of agriculture during the Late Archaic and Early Woodland Period. The objective of this study is to gather quantitative data through the chemical and physical analysis of soils collected within a valley transect to gain insights into landscape processes and soil fertility that may have played a role in the early development of plant domestication and the location of garden plots in relation to rock shelter sites in the upper Cumberland Plateau region of eastern Kentucky. Soils on upland benches formed in limestones have soil fertility values that are comparable to fertile floodplain soils. Upslope outcrops of calcareous bedrock are contributing basic cations to these bench soils. Additionally, in comparison to other landscape positions these upland soils have high levels of organic carbon, available P and greater C:N ratios. Soil morphology, radiocarbon dates, and archaeological evidence indicate that many of the numerous earthflows and debris flows within the region are Early to Middle Holocene in age. These slides were likely generated by Mid-Holocene climatic shifts in which the frequency and intensity of summer precipitation increased across the southeastern United States. These slope failures may have contributed to the development of plant domestication by creating forest canopy gaps and disturbed soils in which weedy plants thrived.     

Relict Soils and Early Arable Land Management in Lofoten, Norway

Relict arable soils dating fromc.AD700 provide an opportunity to identify early arable land management practices in the agriculturally marginal landscapes of the Lofoten archipelago, northern Norway. Synthesis of field survey and soil thin section micromorphology supported by image analysis suggests that there was deliberate management of erodible sandy soils in sloping locations to create small areas of cultivation terrace, with a range of materials used as soil amendments to stabilize the accumulated soil and enhance fertility. Small areas of sandy soils in more gently sloping locations were also cultivated, again with a range of materials used as amendments and which contributed to a significant increase in soil thickness. The last phase of cultivation commenced during the late 1800s and involved the reclamation of wetter, peaty soils by spade. These patterns of arable land management are repeated in different parts of Lofoten and indicate that despite the climatic and economic marginality of arable activity in Lofoten, land management practices were developed and applied to permit barley production from small areas.     

Crop marks and soils at two archaeological sites in Britain

The factors which create crop marks at two archaeological sites, at Glenlochar, Kirkcudbrightshire and at Fisherwick, Staffordshire, are examined in some detail. Marks are best recorded at these places in cereals and show earliest over the shallowest soils. They appear when the potential soil moisture deficit, which occurs when water transpired by a crop exceeds rainfall, is greater than the amount of water in the soil available to the plant. Marks only show in grassland when the deficit is about 40 mm more than that calculated for cereals. Marks also appear in very wet years, but are fainter than those caused by a moisture deficit, and are probably caused by waterlogging in the soil. At both sites the soils are moderately stony and shallow over terrace sands and gravels, except for soils in infilled ditches over which crop growth is better.     

Arid soils—The source of archaeological information

Comparison between desert soils which have no history of cultivation with those which have been farmed near oases or by the use of some sort of irrigation shows that farming practices have left a permanent record in the soil profile. The salt content of the soil bears a direct relationship to the age of cultivation, the highest values being found in soils which carried Chalcolithic farming as far back as the 3rd millennium BC. Increased humus content and evidence of biological activity are also found in old cultivated soils, as well as inclusions such as clay brick fragments, pottery and charcoal.     

The ethnic versus the economic frontiers of Poland

The soil which has developed at any given location is considered to be the result of five interacting factors: parent material, time, climate, topography and biotic factors. This paper discusses the role of these factors in the development of Scottish soils, which fall into three broad categories: leached soils, gley soils and organic soils. The intention is to provide a context for the case studies that follow in later papers.     

The Use of Old Russian Land Survey Data in Geographic Research for Agricultural Purposes

Estate maps dating from the Russian general land survey of 1770–1781 are used to compile a historical map of land types, including cropland, forest, meadow, swamps, etc. The historical map is then compared with a modern soil map and a map of soil-forming parent materials to establish what effect, if any, past land types have had on present soil qualities. It is suggested that the better soils, in terms of drainage characteristics, were selected by man in the earliest stages of cultivation, and that poorer soils were put under the plow only subsequently as the crop area expanded. Some of these poorer soils have reverted, in the meantime, to grazing land. Soils long cleared of forest are found to have a higher carbonate horizon (effervescing with HCI) than soils more recently cleared of forest. The study area is Sapozhok Rayon of Ryazan' Oblast, southeast of Moscow.     

A Genetic Approach to the Subdivision of Tropical Soils,Regolith and their Products of Redeposition

A soil classification based on the genetic principles of Russia's Dokuchayev school is proposed for the tropical setting of Cuba. In view of the heavy degradation of the island's original forest and savanna soils, leaving fully developed soil profiles only in a few areas, such a genetic classification of Cuban soils must incorporate both the few fully developed soils proper and the various types of subsoil, consisting both of parent material and of its products of redeposition. The following types of parent material are distinguished: (a) quartz-allitic-ferritic, on acid crystalline rocks; (b) kaol-inite-allitic-ferritic, on schists; (c) zeolitic, on basic volcanics; (d) ferro-zeolitic, on ultrabasics, and (e) terra rossa, on crystalline limestones. These primary types of parent material, developed on crystalline rocks, have their secondary equivalents on sedimentary rocks.     

Faeces deposition on Amazonian Anthrosols as assessed from 5β-stanols

In the Amazon Basin, within a landscape of infertile soils, fertile Anthrosols of pre-Columbian origin occur (Amazonian Dark Earths or terra preta de Índio). These soils are characterized by high amounts of charred organic matter (black carbon, biochar) and high nutrient stocks. Frequently, they were considered as sign for intensive landscape domestication by way of sedentary agriculture and as sign for large settlements in pre-Columbian Amazonia. Beyond the archaeological interest in Amazonian Dark Earths, they increasingly receive attention because it is assumed that they could serve as a model for sustainable agriculture in the humid tropics (terra preta nova). Both questions lack information about the pre-Columbian practices which were responsible for the genesis of Amazonian Dark Earths. It has often been hypothesized that deposition of faeces could have contributed to the high nutrient stocks in these soils, but no study has focussed on this question yet. We analyzed the biomarkers for faeces 5β-stanols as well as their precursors and their 5α-isomers in Amazonian Dark Earths and reference soils to investigate the input of faeces into Amazonian Dark Earths. Using Amazonian Dark Earths as example, we discuss the application of threshold values for specific stanols to evaluate faeces deposition in archaeological soils and demonstrate an alternative approach which is based on a comparison of the concentration patterns of 5β-stanols with the concentration patterns of their precursors and their 5α-isomers as well as with local backgrounds. The concentration patterns of sterols show that faeces were deposited on Amazonian Dark Earths.     

周原遗址西周墓葬出土芦苇编织物的材料鉴定及用途研究

西周时期墓葬中有机质的葬具通常保存情况极为不佳,考古学信息不甚明确,因而墓葬研究中往往无法充分利用此类材料,但此类材料具有潜在的考古学研究价值。本研究以2017年度周原遗址齐镇发掘区墓葬内所出严重降解的织物为材料,利用显微技术观察残余的表皮细胞和植硅体形态,鉴定结果表明墓葬内所出织物为芦苇(Phragmites communis),符合先秦文献中对殓席的记载,主要根据《士丧礼》和《既夕礼》两篇内容,梳理了芦苇编织物在丧葬过程中的用法和可能的出土位置,以此进一步判断出土苇席的性质主要为卧席和抗席。     

Soils and vegetation history of abandoned enclosures in the New Forest,Hampshire, England

Soil profiles buried beneath earth banks of five abandoned enclosures, ranging in age from late Bronze Age to early 19th century AD, were compared with unburied profiles inside and outside the enclosures. Soil particle size analyses and micromorphological studies show that the banks were constructed of mixed topsoil and subsoil from adjacent ditches; on some banks the soil has begun to podzolize. At the two oldest sites (Dark Hat and Long Slade Bottom, which are late Bronze or Iron Age) the soils within the enclosures were homogenized, probably by occasional cultivation for cereal growing. At Dark Hat an ironpan has developed on the upper surface of a layer compacted by smearing during cultivation. The later enclosures, at Burley Moor (Anglo-Saxon), East Boldre (mediaeval) and Hatchet Gate (early 19th century AD), were probably used entirely for pasture. Pollen assemblages from the buried soils and overlying banks, and chemical comparisons of the buried soils with profiles inside and outside the enclosures together provide new evidence for a history of soil and vegetation changes over the past 2500–3500 years. Heathland vegetation associated with podzolic soils existed on plateau gravels before the late Bronze Age, but on other parent materials heath vegetation and acidic soils with incipient podzolization appeared only in later periods. The present patchy vegetation pattern of mainly deciduous woodland with open areas of ferny grassland and heath seems to have persisted since before the late Bronze Age. The most obvious human influences on the vegetation during the last 2000 years have been periodic temporary use of open areas and woodland clearings for protected grazing.     

PEAT-BOG SITES IN THE EASTERN URALS

Peat-bog sites are unique archaeological sources due to their ability to preserve organic remains which otherwise decompose in mineral soils. This opens up a wide range of prospects for the use of science-based methods in paleoenvironmental research. Relatively few peat-bog sites are known in Russia; most are located in the Eastern Urals and in the forest zone of the Russian Plain. At the Uralian sites, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic sculptures, vessels, transportation means, hunting and fi shing tools, and details of structures made from organic materials have been discovered. All these are highly relevant to archaeological reconstruction. Along with fi nds from numerous sites in mineral soils they provide a basis for multidisciplinary approaches to reconstructing the environments, lifestyles, and ideologies of prehistoric Northern Eurasia.     

Landscape and Soil Development on Monaro Basalt West of Nimmitabel,New South Wales

Prolonged stability of the southern tableland of NSW, developed on early Tertiary Monaro basalt, is evident from weak landscape dissection and numerous small lakes. However, poorly developed soils and weathered zones are inconsistent with prolonged Cainozoic weathering or formation under climates substantially different to the present. Thin Holocene sediments are also at variance with the sizes of the lake basins. Low depositional landforms, termed ‘lake shadows’, occur on the eastern perimeters of most lakes, and comprise clay pellets blown from basin floors during dry phases. Deflation, dominantly during Quaternary glacial periods, and reactivated today, is responsible for the thin soils and sediment cover. The lake basins are partly solutional and partly deflational features. The modern soil cover reflects the modern climate.     

The legacy of past urban waste disposal on local soils

Many attributes of present day soils can only be explained by reference to land management in the historic past. This is particularly well expressed in the plaggen soils which occur extensively on the north European plain. These deepened soils owe their dominant characteristics to the application from the 12th century of turf materials, often impregnated with dung. Similar deepening of soils can result from the disposal of urban waste. This paper discusses the results of soil research focused on a small Scottish town (Nairn). A soil survey revealed topsoils of over 1 m overlying fluvioglacial sands and gravels; such deepening is explained by the use of town waste on the burgh's arable lands from at least the 17th century up until the mid-19th century when an integrated sewerage system was installed. Micromorphological study of this deepened topsoil revealed the presence of many small black carbonaceous particles. Oxygen:carbon ratios were calculated from microprobe results as a means of confirming the carbonaceous nature of these particles. Soil phosphorus was primarily concentrated on the perimeter of these particles. The high quality of present day soils on the edge of the town is explained by the disposal of waste material, which included much carbonised material. This paper is the first to highlight the importance and potential of examining the gradation in soils from urban to rural contexts.     

Prehistoric farming in the mfolozi and hluhluwe valleys of Southeast Africa: an archaeo-botanical survey

The Mfolozi and Hluhluwe Valleys of southeastern Africa are representative of a sub-tropical biome and have archaeological evidence for farming settlement spanning more than 1500 years. By collecting information on soils and plant communities within the same sample frame as archaeological data, the relative importance of environmental and anthropomorphic influences can be assessed. It is argued that, although climate and soils have determined the overall distribution of plant communities, human land use has had a considerable effect on the composition of both woodland and grassland. The nature of this interaction between man and environment provides inferential data on prehistoric economies and also aids the formulation of conservation policies in protected areas.     

Liquefaction Resistance of Silty Sands and Dynamic Properties of Cohesive Soils from Düzce,Turkey

This article presents results from a laboratory investigation into the cyclic and dynamic properties of soils from Düzce, Turkey, conducted after the destructive November 12, 1999 earthquake. The investigation was mainly conducted by means of monotonic and cyclic triaxial, as well as resonant-column tests. The triaxial tests allowed the determination of the liquefaction resistance of silty sands, as well as their critical state behavior, whereas the resonant-column tests allowed the determination of shear modulus and damping ratio of cohesive soils. The results are presented and then discussed together with their pertinence to soil behavior when subjected to earthquake loading.     

The soils of an Iron Age farm site ‐bjellands⊘ynæ, SW Norway

Soil investigations have been carried out at an Iron Age farm site lying under natural vegetation. The soils of the area were mapped and described, and soil samples analysed for pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen, acid‐soluble phosphorus, and available sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Two soil types were distinguished on the mineral soils ‐ Brown Podzolic Soils and Iron Humus Podzols. The former are associated with a higher pH, higher phosphorus contents, and a lower carbon‐nitrogen ratio. These differences arc difficult to explain by natural causes, and arc ascribed to cultivation and manuring of the soil during the occupation of the site.