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Investigating paleosol completeness and preservation in mid-Paleozoic alluvial paleosols: A case study in paleosol taphonomy from the Lower Old Red Sandstone

Marriott, Susan; Wright, V. Paul

Authors

Susan Marriott

V. Paul Wright



Contributors

A. Alonso-Zarza
Editor

L. Tanner
Editor

Abstract

Preservational bias in paleosol formation is rarely discussed and remains a major issue in paleopedology. The relatively simple paleosol profiles of the Silurian-Devonian Old Red Sandstone alluvial successions of southwest Wales provide an opportunity to investigate the completeness of a widespread type of calcic Vertisol. Reactivated, truncated cumulate horizons provide means of assessing the dynamics of floodplain erosion and accumulation. While these distinctive profiles are not especially common, effects of low-magnitude erosion events were probably masked, affecting only the topmost part of the upper soil horizon. In the absence of a stabilizing rooted vascular plant cover in pre-mid-Paleozoic sediments, such mobile upper soil horizons were likely a common feature. © 2006 Geological Society of America.

Citation

Marriott, S., & Wright, V. P. (2006). Investigating paleosol completeness and preservation in mid-Paleozoic alluvial paleosols: A case study in paleosol taphonomy from the Lower Old Red Sandstone. Special Papers, 416, 43-52. https://doi.org/10.1130/2006.2416%2803%29

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Jan 1, 2006
Journal Special Paper of the Geological Society of America
Print ISSN 0072-1077
Publisher Geological Society of America
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Volume 416
Pages 43-52
DOI https://doi.org/10.1130/2006.2416%2803%29
Keywords floodplain development, soil development, red sandstone
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1042595
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/2006.2416(03)

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