Carbonate rhizoliths and related features are environmental ecological indicators of not only palaeosols, but also modern soils. They designate subaerial vadose pedogenic diagenesis environments. Rhizoliths commonly used as a tool for paleoenvironmental reconstructions, uncertainty remains regarding their formation mechanisms. Field characteristics the dune in Badain Jaran Desert, NW China were...

The stable carbon (δC) and oxygen (δO) isotopic composition of terrestrial carbonate has been used to reconstruct late Quaternary paleoecological and paleoclimatic conditions, respectively, for many different regions of the world. Quantitative reconstructions of past variability in climate and the distribution of C3/CAM/C4 vegetation from carbonate in soils and speleothems depend upon a rigorou...

Pedogenesis can be slow or fast depending on the internal chemical response to environmental forcing factors. When a shift in the external environment does not produce any pedogenic change even though one is expected, the soil is said to be in a state of pedogenic inertia. In contrast, soil properties sometimes change suddenly and irreversibly in a threshold response to external stimuli or inte...

Stable isotope and molecular data suggest that C(4) grasses first appeared globally in the Oligocene. In East Africa, stable isotope data from pedogenic carbonate and fossil tooth enamel suggest a first appearance between 15-10 Ma and subsequent expansion during the Plio-Pleistocene. The fossil enamel record has the potential to provide detailed information about the rates of dietary adaptation...

Soil-geomorphic studies indicate that six major allostratigraphic units occur in Crater Flat, Nevada, adjacent to Yucca Mountain. These units are, from youngest to oldest, Crater Flat, Little Cones, Late Black Cone, Early Black Cone, Yucca, and Solitario. Presence and degree of differentiation of Av, Ak, Bw, Bt, Btk, Btkq, and Bqkm genetic soil horizons characterize units, confirm relative ages...

In this study, two new climofunctions based on major elements are proposed from the study of 28 modern alluvial soils with pedogenic carbonate NE Spain. The first climofunction relates a base ratio (CaO, K2O) to mean annual temperature (MAT), and second one clayeness (Al2O3/SiO2) precipitation (MAP). both climofunctions, use parent material as normalizer gave best results, taking into account n...

Calcium is a key element of the Earth system and closely coupled to carbon cycle. Weathering silicate releases Ca, which exported sequestered in oceans. However, pedogenic calcium carbonate constitutes second Ca-trapping pathway that has received less attention. Large accumulations nodules, associated with palaeo-Vertisols, are widespread North Cameroon, despite carbonate-free watershed. A prev...

Soils with pedogenic carbonate cover about 30% (3.44 10 km) of China, mainly across its arid and semiarid regions in the Northwest. Based on the second national soil survey (1979–1992), total soil inorganic carbon (SIC) storage in China was estimated to be 53.3 6.3 PgC (1 Pg5 10 g) to the depth investigated to 2 m. Soil inorganic carbon storages were 4.6, 10.6, 11.1, and 20.8 Pg for the depth r...