Environmental evolution has an impact on soil development and that makes soils and palaeosols relevant geo-ecological and geo-archaeological archives. To unlock information from soil archives, various techniques can be applied. Traditionally, soil-ecological finger prints can be obtained by pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating. Also soil micromorphology, micro biology, inorganic and organic soil chemistry provide relevant information. And continuously, new innovative techniques as isotope and biomarker analysis come available for application in soil archives analyses. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of soil organic carbon, radiocarbon dates are not always reliable for the establishment of a correct geochronology of paleosols. During the last decades, application of OSL dating proved to be very useful for aeolian and fluvial sand deposits, while also dating soils with archaeological data is increasingly employed.
The aim of the session in the section soil as a record of the past is to bring results of studies of soils and palaeosols to show the state of the art in progress in knowledge and techniques to unlock geoecological information to improve the geochronology of palaeosols and to contribute to the reconstruction of natural and cultural landscape evolution.
All researchers, involved in interdisciplinary soil science studies are invited to submit abstracts for the section soils as record of the past. We are grateful to receive abstracts, dedicated to: (1) application of techniques to unlock paleo-ecological and geo-archaeological information from palaeosols; (2) application of variable dating techniques to create a valid geochronological framework; (3) Soil sciences based reconstruction of natural and cultural landscape evolution.
We intend to select the best abstracts for the production of special volumes of peer reviewed journals.
If you have affinity with soils as records of the past, share your results with us and upload your abstract for this session:
Soil science in cultural and natural landscapes
Conveners: Sjoerd Kluiving, Ian Simpson, Jan van Mourik, Claudio Zaccone
Scope of this session is the application of pedological knowledge and its interaction with cultural landscape evolution. How do we transfer observed changes in soil systems into changes in land use and consequently in landscape dynamics? How do soil parameters that reflect the effect and intensity in natural surface processes compare with the effect and cultural processes that change the landscape? How does land clearance or manipulation of the forest influence soil parameters? Are patterns of human dispersal, e.g. sedentary land occupation, a cause of changing soil properties? What is the effect of timing and intensity of anthropogenic influence on soil properties? How can pedological knowledge contribute to wider questions of sustainability and resilience?

SOLICITED TALK: Prof. Dr. Timothy Beach, Georgetown Univ. U.S.A. 'Soil and Human Interactions in Maya Wetlands'

The results of this session Soil as Record of the Past will be published in a special issue of CATENA.