Abstract
Summary Two of the oldest paleosols on Mount Kenya, East Africa, in the Gorges moraine of early Pleistocene age, were studied to determine if extractable Fe and Al might prove useful in the interpretation of present and past soil-forming environments. Using documented paleomagnetic ages for the tills and loesses we attempted to determine if extractable crystalline Fe and Al could provide information on relative age. Paleomagnetic dating places the tills as slightly younger than the Olduvai subchron ( The data indicate that no pyrophosphate-extractable Fe and Al (normalized against Fe d and Al d ) have been translocated downward in the two paleosols. Further, the amount of dithionite-extractable Fe is greater in the paleosol solum under Hagenia forest which is in accordance with its older relative age (early Brunhes) established by paleomagnetic methods. The activity ratio (Fe 0 /Fe d ) for the sola (aeolian sediments) in the two paleosols shows overall lower values in the paleosol under Hagenia forest suggesting greater conversion to crystalline Fe as well as advanced age.
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