Pedological Data Research Articles

Intrinsic vulnerability of Coteţul Dobreştilor karst aquifer (Bihor Mountain, Romania)

The evaluation of the vulnerability of the karst aquifer and the source in the Coteţul Dobrestilor system was performed on the basis of geological, hydrogeological and pedological data. The methods proposed in the Final Report of COST Action 620 were used. The available field data resulted in assessing the parameters P, I and in characterizing the saturated aquifer karstic network parameter (K). The soil cover over the carbonate deposits is generally shallow and easily bypassed by the superficial flow, the protection of the karstic aquifer and the source thus being minimal.

Soil Attribute Parameterization for Plant‐Specific Evaluation of Cropland Productivity in Hungary

The potential of croplands is determined by annual and seasonal variations in the capacity of the soil to supply water and nutrients. This research was aimed at, with use of the available pedological, topographical, and meteorological data, to describe how yield formation is influenced by the major soil attributes determining fertility and to construct a land evaluation model. The aim was also to describe how fertilization influences the fertility of various soils. For this purpose, data on the soil, agrotechnology, and yield of >80,000 fields, representing approximately 4 million ha of arable land, were statistically analyzed over a 5‐yr period (1985–1989). As part of this work, differences between the most common soil types were evaluated, as manifested in the yield data of wheat. This evaluation was backed up by an analysis of the modifying effects of soil texture, lime status, and nitrogen fertilization. The database of a smaller sample area was used to study the fertility of various soil types for various crops, and calculations were made to quantify the fertilizer effect and the effects of soil characteristics. Results confirm that it is worthwhile performing fertility classification based on soil groupings at higher taxonomic levels. Differences in the fertility of soils with more favorable properties within the soil taxonomic units even out at the highest fertilizer rates, whereas soils with poorer properties, treated with lower rates of fertilizer, exhibit far greater differences in fertility. The best way to achieve a complex quantification of the effect of attributes which influence productivity seems to be by differentiating between soil types, taking into consideration the major physical and chemical characteristics of the particular soil units.

A DAILY WATER BALANCE ESTIMATE FOR CLIMATE RISK EVALUATION AT A LOCAL SCALE

A methodology for calculating a soil-water balance based on climatological and pedological data of Sardinia (Italy) is presented. Daily temperature and rainfall data from reference period 1971-2000 were spatially interpolated on a 10 km x 10 km cell grid to obtain a set of homogeneously distributed values. Pedological information of Sardinian soils were used to characterize the entire territory of Sardinia in terms of available water content ( AWC ) and soil depth. Reference evapotranspiration values ( ETo ) were estimated using the Hargreaves method and actual evapotranspiration estimates ( ETa ) were calculated as function of soil water content for each grid cell. A simplified soil water balance was calculated for each grid point and year to determine the average daily soil water content over the thirty-year period. Climatic risk was evaluated considering the number of days when soil water content was below 50% of available water content threshold for each year of the 1971-2000 period. Results show a wide variability of interannual climatic and water deficit conditions throughout the region. Maps of spatial distribution of drought conditions show that the dryest years were from 1996 to 2000. During this 5-year period, about 60% of the Sardinian territory was affected by severe climatic conditions which determined high climatic risk for agricultural areas.

Soil types and eolian dust in high-mountainous karst of the Northern Calcareous Alps (Zugspitzplatt, Wetterstein Mountains, Germany)

This study deals with the soil formation on pure limestone in the high-mountainous karst of Wetterstein Mountains (Northern Calcareous Alps). The study area in detail covers the alpine (2000 to 2350 m) and the subnivale zone (2350 to 2600 m) of Zugspitzplatt, a tertiary paleosurface situated next to the highest summit of Germany (Zugspitze 2963 m). The formation of autochthonous soils is determined by the following parameters: uniform geology and geochemistry of Triassic limestone (CaCO 3+MgCO 3≥98%), variable substrata (solid rock, debris, local moraine), hypsometric pattern of vegetation modified by microclimate and aspect, variety of micro-environments in karst relief. In the subnivale zone, only leptosols (lithic, skeletic) and regosols (calcaric, humic) occur, whereas in the alpine zone different stages of folic histosols and rendzic leptosols prevail due to the diversity of vegetation. The purity of limestone prevents a distinct contribution of residues to soil formation. Instead of expected A–B–C profiles, the residues are mixed with organic matter of folic horizons (O–OB–C). Only in karst depressions or on local moraines small Bt horizons (2 to 5 cm) occur. They mark a developed stage of folic histosol (O–OB–Bt–C) representing the climax of autochthonous mineral soil genesis in the study area. Special features are brown deposits (mean thickness 30 cm) covering large parts of the alpine zone. On the basis of mineralogical (X-ray diffraction, heavy minerals) and pedological data (grain size, soil chemistry), eolian origin is indicated. The resulting soils are classified as loess loam-like cambisols (Ah–Bw–2(Bt)–2C) and are related to late glacial loess deposition (Egesen-Stade of Younger Dryas). The abundance of mica and silt in the surface layers and the grain size distribution of snow dust samples prove that dust influx by southerly winds is still continuing. The major sources for both late glacial and present-day dust are magmatic and metamorphic rock formations of the Central Alps. Additionally, local dust transport from adjacent outcrops of Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous sediments is evident.

Relict mountain slope deposits of northern Portugal: facies, sedimentogenesis and environmental implications

AbstractThis paper deals with the formation processes and the palaeoenvironmental significance of relict slope deposits located on the uppermost part of the north Portugal mountains. For this purpose, seven key sites representative of the different lithofacies have been selected and analysed in detail. The data show that three main dynamic processes are responsible for the emplacement of regional fossil slope deposits: runoff, debris flows and dry grain flows. The ubiquity of these processes and the lack of frost‐related features or landforms do not support the existence of severe Pleistocene climates in this part of the lberian Peninsula as postulated by previous work. Pedological data gathered at one of the study sites show that a subalpine environment was probably present at 700–800 m altitude between 29 and 14 kyr. Using data from the Pyrenees Mountains, a 6.5 to 12°C depression in mean annual temperature has been tentatively postulated for this Pleniglacial period. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Intrinsic vulnerability assessment of the aquifer in the Rižana spring chatcment

In this paper is presented intrinsic vulnerability assessment of the aquifer in the Rižana spring chatcment by the method SINTACS. It is parametric method that takes into consideration seven parameters (depth to ground water, effective infiltration action, unsaturated zone attenuation capacity, soil/overburden attenuation capacity, hydrogeological characteristics of the aquifer, hydraulic conductivity range of aquifer, hydrologic role of the topographic slope). Parameters are presented in grid information layers that were elaborated on the basis of interpretation and GIS processing of geological, hydrogeological, speleological, topographical, meteorological and pedological data. According to the parameters importance for vulnerability assessment, a multiplier (importance weight) was assigned to each parameter. Final map of vulnerability is a result of overlaying (summing) of weighted information layers (parameters) and shows the catchment area of the Rižana spring subdivided into six vulnerability classes.

CLIMATIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABILITY IN THE RISE OF MAYA CIVILIZATION: A preliminary perspective from northern Peten

Archaeological and ecological investigations in the Mirador Basin of northern Guatemala have recovered archaeological, phytolith, palynological, and pedological data relevant to the early occupation and development of Maya civilization in a specific environmental matrix. Fluctuation in vegetation types as evident in cores and archaeological profiles suggest that the seasonally wet, forested bajo environment currently found in the northern Peten was anciently more of a perennially wet marsh system that may have been heavily used and influenced by large Preclassic occupations. Data suggest that climatic and environmental factors correspond with the cultural process in the Mirador Basin, and research in progress is oriented to further elucidating these issues.

Improving soil hydromorphy prediction according to DEM resolution and available pedological data

This study analyses the sensitivity of soil hydromorphy prediction methods with regard to the resolution of topographical information and additional soil data. Seven Digital Elevation Models (DEM) were computed and compared to topographic measurements, with different resolutions (10, 20, 30 and 50 m) and construction mode (inputting actual stream location in addition to contour lines). Prediction models of soil hydromorphy using linear regression and co-kriging were established from detailed descriptions of soil catenas and topographical investigations on a 2 ha site. These models were compared on a validation set. The DEMs with fine resolutions from 10 to 30 m estimated in a unbiased way the elevation ( E), the elevation above the stream bank (ES), the downslope gradient (DG), and the upslope contributing area (Amu), whereas prediction errors increased for the lower resolution 50-m DEMs. Apparently, the location of the channel network had no systematic effect on the estimation errors. There was a strong relationship between soil hydromorphy index (HI) and ES ( r 2=0.80) and the Compound Topographic Index (CTI)=ln(Amu/DG) ( r 2=0.62). For DEM resolutions of less than 30 m, soil hydromorphy prediction models bound on a regression model with topographic attributes appeared efficient and even better than ordinary kriging (OR) with 10 or 60 point observations. Coarser DEM resolutions (30 and 50 m) highly deteriorated prediction quality. For these resolutions, quality of soil hydromorphy prediction was highly improved by co-kriging of 10 and especially 60 pedological data points with a topographical regression model.

Assessment of heavy-metal contamination of floodplain soils due to mining and mineral processing in the Harz Mountains, Germany

study area was assessed with respect to its heavy-metal load on the basis of the current guideline values. The heavy-metal loads of the soils in the study area have ranges of <0.2–200 mg kg−1 for Cd, <10–30,000 mg kg−1 for Pb, 7–10,000 mg kg−1 for Cu and 50–55,000 mg kg−1 for Zn. Mobility of the heavy metals was determined by extraction at different pH values. The acid neutralisation capacity (ANCx) at these pH values was also determined to estimate the probability that the pH can drop to pH=x. The ANC values in the study area ranged from 6 to 3000 mmol H+ kg−1, from −33 to 800 mmol H+ kg−1 and from −74 to 160 mmol H+ kg−1 for ANC3.5, ANC5.0 and ANC6.2, respectively. Together with pedological data, the extraction experiments permit differentiation between soil units that have been placed in the same environmental hazard class on the basis of total heavy-metal loads.

Humate fraction and the laboratory factor in conventional 14C ages from late-quaternary soils in the central Great Plains

Thick (≤35 m) loess deposits are present on ridges and high bluffs in the northern-half of the Lower Mississippi Valley (LMV), U.S.A. Detailed descriptions of the loess sections and pedologic, physiochemical, and mineralogic analyses and TL, 14C, and 10Be age determinations, allow preliminary paleoclimatic reconstructions for the late Quaternary of central North America. No age data are available for the oldest (Fifth) loess. 10Be and TL age data suggest a 250-200 ka age for the Fourth or Crowleys Ridge(?) Loess, and indicate that the Loveland or Third Loess is time equivalent to oxygen isotope stage 6, ∼190-120 ka. A weakly developed paleosol is present in the basal-half of the Loveland. The Sangamon Geosol is present in the upper 5 m and represents all of oxygen isotope stage 5, ∼ 130-60 ka. It formed in a climate as warm as, but drier and (or) with greater variation in precipitation, than the present. The Roxana Silt (second loess) was deposited during oxygen isotope stages 4 and 3, ∼ 65-26 ka. The early Wisconsinan interglacial-glacial transition, represented by the Sangamon Geosol and the unnamed paleosol in the basal Roxana Silt, was slow. The paleoclimate during the 35 k yr of Roxana deposition was cool to cold and wet. Age and pedologic data indicate that deposition of the Peoria Loess (the youngest) began around 25 ka when the area's climate changed abruptly from cool or cold and wet to cold and dry, with periods of sustained high winds.

Paleopedology plus TL, 10Be, and 14C dating as tools in stratigraphic and paleoclimatic investigations, Mississippi River Valley, U.S.A.

Thick (≤35 m) loess deposits are present on ridges and high bluffs in the northern-half of the Lower Mississippi Valley (LMV), U.S.A. Detailed descriptions of the loess sections and pedologic, physiochemical, and mineralogic analyses and TL, 14C, and 10Be age determinations, allow preliminary paleoclimatic reconstructions for the late Quaternary of central North America. No age data are available for the oldest (Fifth) loess. 10Be and TL age data suggest a 250-200 ka age for the Fourth or Crowleys Ridge(?) Loess, and indicate that the Loveland or Third Loess is time equivalent to oxygen isotope stage 6, ∼190-120 ka. A weakly developed paleosol is present in the basal-half of the Loveland. The Sangamon Geosol is present in the upper 5 m and represents all of oxygen isotope stage 5, ∼ 130-60 ka. It formed in a climate as warm as, but drier and (or) with greater variation in precipitation, than the present. The Roxana Silt (second loess) was deposited during oxygen isotope stages 4 and 3, ∼ 65-26 ka. The early Wisconsinan interglacial-glacial transition, represented by the Sangamon Geosol and the unnamed paleosol in the basal Roxana Silt, was slow. The paleoclimate during the 35 k yr of Roxana deposition was cool to cold and wet. Age and pedologic data indicate that deposition of the Peoria Loess (the youngest) began around 25 ka when the area's climate changed abruptly from cool or cold and wet to cold and dry, with periods of sustained high winds.

Holocene eolian activity in the Minot dune field, North Dakota

Stabilized eolian sand is common over much of the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada, including a subhumid area of ~1500 km2near Minot, North Dakota. Eolian landforms consist of sand sheets and northwest-trending parabolic dunes. Dunes and sand sheets in the Minot field are presently stabilized by a cover of prairie grasses or oak woodland. Stratigraphic studies and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating of paleosols indicate at least two periods of eolian sand movement in the late Holocene. Pedologic data suggest that all of the dune field has experienced late Holocene dune activity, though not all parts of the dune field may have been active simultaneously. Similar immobile element (Ti, Zr, La, Ce) concentrations support the interpretation that eolian sands are derived from local glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine sediments. However, glaciolacustrine and glaciofluvial source sediments have high Ca concentrations from carbonate minerals, whereas dune sands are depleted in Ca. Because noneolian-derived soils in the area are calcareous, these data indicate that the Minot dune field may have had extended periods of activity in the Holocene, such that eolian abrasion removed soft carbonate minerals. The southwest-facing parts of some presently stabilized dunes were active during the 1930s drought, but were revegetated during the wetter years of the 1940s. These observations indicate that severe droughts accompanied by high temperatures are the most likely cause of Holocene eolian activity.

Early needle senescence and thinning of the crown structure of Picea abies as induced by chronic SO2pollution. I. Model deduction and analysis

AbstractRegarding time ranges of years, a rationale has been developed which is capable of explaining observed ‘spruce decline’ symptoms observed when spruce is exposed to air containing ambient levels of SO2. It integrates and interrelates (i) ecophysiological data (tree morphology, assimilate partitioning, canopy turnover, senescence physiology, stomatal conductance, canopy throughfall, sulphur metabolism, tonoplast symport), (ii) pedological data (soil leaching, cation recycling, litter decomposition, forest nutrition), and (iii) meteorological data (site elevation, length of the annual trunk growth period, SO2‐pollution). Furthermore, it can explain field observations at numerous sites of spruce decline in central Europe where SO2 is implicated as a factor of forest decline: (i) thinning of the canopy structure; (ii) early needle senescence; (iii) cation deficiency; (iv) low SO2 tolerance at sites with depleted soils in the mountains; (v) synergism of SO2pollution and acidic precipitation; (vi) recovery after liming, fertilization and after decreasing SO2 pollution; and (vii) higher SO2 tolerances of deciduous angiosperms. Different SO2tolerance strategies are identified that are employed by more SO2‐tolerant tree species. Ecophysiological SO2tolerance factors interact in a complex synergistic or antagonistic manner. It is concluded that chronic SO2 pollution at ambient concentrations predisposes mainly evergreen gymnosperms to suffer under synergistic environmental stresses (frost, drought, pathogens, etc.). Thinning of the crown structure is massive at extreme sites, where several stresses act simultaneously on the trees (depleted soils, high SO2 pollution, acidic rain, etc.). Mathematical formulations allow precise definitions of terms such as cooperativity, synergism, antagonism, vitality, predisposition, latency, etc. This universal rationale, which is applicable to all tree species, is exemplified here for Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.). Integration of parameters yields an ordinary differential equation, which can be solved analytically. It predicts reversible dynamics of crown structures and gives an ecophysiological background to‘damage’.

Regional estimation of ground water vulnerability to nonpoint sources of agricultural chemicals

The potential for ground water contamination by agricultural chemicals exists in many regions of the world. A collaborative effort between Hungarian and United States scientists has developed a general strategy to estimate the regional vulnerability of ground water to agricultural chemicals. The midwest U.S. and most of Hungary are major agricultural regions with similar hydrogeologic settings. Many areas where ground water provides public drinking water supplies in these regions are vulnerable to ground-water contamination. The vulnerability of shallow, unconsolidated aquifers and thinly-covered bedrock aquifers to agricultural chemicals is being investigated in an initial application of the strategy. This strategy integrates elements of overlay methods of vulnerability estimation, process-based modeling methods, and statistical methods. Strategy steps include: identifying characteristics of ground water needed to classify regional ground water resources; mapping the spatial distribution of aquifer classes (unconsolidated and bedrock) using a regional geographic information system; and estimating the occurrence of agricultural contaminants by applying leaching models to representative conditions in each aquifer class. In the U.S. project, pedologic data bases are being used for both mapping aquifer classes and model input. Estimated vulnerability will be evaluated against data from a regional survey of shallow aquifers recently completed in the Midwest. The Hungarian project is developing new maps of basic hydrogeologic characteristics with data that can be used to model vulnerability of the 1-meter root zone, the unsaturated zone, and the saturated zone.

Regional estimation of ground water vulnerability to nonpoint sources of agricultural chemicals

The potential for ground water contamination by agricultural chemicals exists in many regions of the world. A collaborative effort between Hungarian and United States scientists has developed a general strategy to estimate the regional vulnerability of ground water to agricultural chemicals. The midwest U.S. and most of Hungary are major agricultural regions with similar hydrogeologic settings. Many areas where ground water provides public drinking water supplies in these regions are vulnerable to ground-water contamination. The vulnerability of shallow, unconsolidated aquifers and thinly-covered bedrock aquifers to agricultural chemicals is being investigated in an initial application of the strategy. This strategy integrates elements of overlay methods of vulnerability estimation, process-based modeling methods, and statistical methods. Strategy steps include: identifying characteristics of ground water needed to classify regional ground water resources; mapping the spatial distribution of aquifer classes (unconsolidated and bedrock) using a regional geographic information system; and estimating the occurrence of agricultural contaminants by applying leaching models to representative conditions in each aquifer class. In the U.S. project, pedologic data bases are being used for both mapping aquifer classes and model input. Estimated vulnerability will be evaluated against data from a regional survey of shallow aquifers recently completed in the Midwest. The Hungarian project is developing new maps of basic hydrogeologic characteristics with data that can be used to model vulnerability of the 1-meter root zone, the unsaturated zone, and the saturated zone.

Seasonality of Stone Procurement: An Early Paleoindian Example in Northwestern New York State

Early Paleoindian subsistence activities were not restricted to the procurement and processing of food. Likewise, studies of early Paleoindian subsistence cycles should not depend solely upon seasonality data from plant and animal remains. Geographic, geochronologic, geologic, and pedologic data obtained from the Emanon Pond site, an early Paleoindian workshop-habitation in northwestern New York state, are used to reconstruct the seasonality of stone procurement. In doing so, a more detailed picture of early Paleoindian subsistence cycles can be made.

SPATIAL ANALYSIS AND MODELING OF TOPSOIL CARBON STORAGE IN TEMPERATE FOREST HUMIC LOAMY SOILS OF FRANCE

Organic matter (OM) is an important component of soils because of its influence on cation exchange capacity, water retention, soil structure, and ecology and as a source of plants nutrients. Recent attention to rising levels of atmospheric CO 2 has directed attention to the stores of organic C in soils and to changes resulting from conversion of forest to cropping. However,the spatial distribution of carbon pools in forest soils is difficult to estimate because of the unavailability of reliable data. In southwest France, thick humic acid soils have developed from Quaternary silty alluvial deposits. The area of study is characterized by textural and climatic gradients. The objective of this work was to determine if relationships between these gradients and organic matter contents could be established, in order to make a spatial prediction of organic pools in forest soils, and to simulate future evolution under corn cropping. Soil samples were collected from an oceanic zone of the French Pyrenean piedmont, ancient terraces of Pyrenean streams (southwest France), and from 11 sites. On each site, from 13 to 37 topsoil (0-30 cm) samples were collected from mature forests. A total of 194 samples were collected. Correlations between all climatic, geomorphological, and pedological data were calculated. The area of the terraces was delimited using a traditional geomorphologically based survey and stored into a geographical information system (ARC/INFO). This map was overlayed with a 1-km×1-km grid, and probability level maps of organic C amounts in forest soils down to 30 cm were produced using a multiple linear model. This study shows that relating OM contents to spatial available parameters that might influence OM distribution can provide a useful tool to improve geographical prediction of this characteristic. In this work, clay content was found to be the most important soil parameter influencing OM distribution. Another important point is the concept of probability level associated with spatial prediction. This study gives an example of a spatial model taking this variability into account

SPATIAL ANALYSIS AND MODELING OF TOPSOIL CARBON STORAGE IN TEMPERATE FOREST HUMIC LOAMY SOILS OF FRANCE

Organic matter (OM) is an important component of soils because of its influence on cation exchange capacity, water retention, soil structure, and ecology and as a source of plants nutrients. Recent attention to rising levels of atmospheric CO2 has directed attention to the stores of organic C in soils and to changes resulting from conversion of forest to cropping. However, the spatial distribution of carbon pools in forest soils is difficult to estimate because of the unavailability of reliable data. In southwest France, thick humic acid soils have developed from Quaternary silty alluvial deposits. The area of study is characterized by textural and climatic gradients. The objective of this work was to determine if relationships between these gradients and organic matter contents could be established, in order to make a spatial prediction of organic pools in forest soils, and to simulate future evolution under corn cropping. Soil samples were collected from an oceanic zone of the French Pyrenean piedmont, ancient terraces of Pyrenean streams (southwest France), and from 11 sites. On each site, from 13 to 27 topsoil (0-30 cm) samples were collected from mature forests. A total of 194 samples were collected. Correlations between all climatic, geomorphological, and pedological data were calculated. The area of the terraces was delimited using a traditional geomorphologically based survey and stored into a geographical information system (ARC/INFO). This map was overlayed with a 1-km × 1-km grid, and probability level maps of organic C amounts in forest soils down to 30 cm were produced using a multiple linear model. This study shows that relating OM contents to spatial available parameters that might influence OM distribution can provide a useful tool to improve geographical prediction of this characteristic. In this work, clay content was found to be the most important soil parameter influencing OM distribution. Another important point is the concept of probability level associated with spatial prediction. This study gives an example of a spatial model taking this variability into account.

Hedgepeth Mounds, an Archaic Mound Complex in North-Central Louisiana

In 1991, test excavations were conducted at Hedgepeth Mounds (16L17), a two-mound complex in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana. Radiometric, archaeological, pedological, and geomorphological data suggest that the site dates to the Archaic period (6000-1500 B.C.). Charcoal from a hearth beneath Mound A dates to cal 2888 ± 100 B.C. A soil sample from the submound surface dates to cal 4930 ± 117 B.C. Two Archaic projectile points are among the artifacts from the submound surface. Diagnostic soil horizons in Mound A fill suggest the mound is of great antiquity. Soil cores from areas adjacent to Mound A have demonstrated that the living surface of the site is covered with approximately 1 m of alluvium, and that the alluvial mantle contains diagnostic soil horizons indicative of long-term weathering.

Note sur la répartition et l'écologie deCarex fimbriataSchkuhr au Queyras et dans les Alpes

Summary Carex fimbriata (Cyperaceae) is an endemic species growing on saturated soils with magnesium on serpentine. This species is found under the alpine climate of central middle Alps between Lautaret (Hautes-Alpes in France) and valley of Poschiavo (Switzerland). We describe its presence in Queyras. The chorologic knowledge is thus increased southward. The plant is perfectly characterised by photosociological and pedological data.