Abstract
The soil chronosequence is a useful method for investigating pedological theories. Soil chemical, physical and mineralogical properties in chronosequences change over time and exhibit systematic and time-dependent trends, which can be used to analyze the rates and directions of pedogenic changes. The potential of soil spectroscopy as an emerging, rapid and cost-effective technique for predicting soil properties has been widely accepted and has motivated the application of spectroscopic techniques to the analysis of soil chronosequence. We present a soil chronosequence derived from 1000-year-old calcareous marine sediments and examine changes in six soil properties over this period. We evaluated the utility of a soil spectroscopic method to detect soil property changes and to predict the pedogenic properties and soil ages of the chronosequence. The results show that some soil pedogenic processes, such as soil organic matter accumulation, CaCO3 leaching and clay migration, can be identified in the millennium chronosequence. Power chronofunctions are formulated for soil organic matter (SOM) and Logarithmic chronofunctions are fitted for clay, CaCO3 and pH. These pedogenic processes are identified in the reflectance intensity and absorption features of soil spectroscopy, and pedogenic properties can be calibrated via soil reflectance spectroscopy. Profile ages can also be predicted via pseudo multi-depth spectra of soil profiles, and soil spectral curves for 0–30 cm generated the best prediction results (RPD = 1.85). We conclude that soil properties, changing due to weathering and soil formation, act as a bridge linking spectroscopy and weathering levels/pedogenic processes. The results imply that applying spectroscopy techniques to chronosequence study and mapping the degree of soil development in certain areas should be possible.
Highlights
According to soil genesis theory, soil is a natural body formed through the synthetic actions of parent materials, climate, topography, organisms, and time [1]
Changing soil properties in a chronosequence that are produced through different weathering levels and pedogenic processes can be reflected through spectral behaviors
These properties serve as a bridge linking soil spectroscopy and weathering levels/pedogenic processes
Summary
According to soil genesis theory, soil is a natural body formed through the synthetic actions of parent materials, climate, topography, organisms, and time [1]. Since Bowers and Hanks [18] and Condit [19] systematically investigated the relationship between soil properties and reflectance spectroscopy, the potential of soil spectroscopy as an efficient and cost-effective prediction technique has been demonstrated by a large number of subsequent studies [20,21,22,23]. This technique was used in pedogenic research to explore the relationship between the degree of soil weathering and reflectance spectroscopy [24,25,26,27]. More specific objectives are (i) to establish a soil chronosequence derived from 1000-year-old calcareous marine sediments and investigate soil property changes over this period, (ii) to evaluate the potential for surface soil spectroscopy to detect soil property changes with time in a chronosequence, and (iii) to assess the feasibility of predicting soil profile age in this area using spectroscopy
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