Soils and sediments registered time and space variations of environmental changes, but may also display components inherited from human activities, both in archaeological and in modern times. Micromorphological study of undisturbed samples correlated with mineralogy, geochemistry or biology plays a key role by deciphering complex features and describing properties and processes from which a relative chronology, specific environmental conditions and/or extent of human impact may be deduced, both on present-day and past soil and sediments.
This session focuses on the promotion of micromorphological researches on soil and sediments in natural and man-influenced ecosystem, and the assessment of new proxies for weathering from the micro- to the nano-scale combined with spatially resolved chemical, isotopic or mineralogical analyses. It aims to integrate modern and ancient impact of human activities in soils and sediments, in order to bring together researches at different scales.
Contributions are solicited from soil scientists, sedimentologist, geochemists, mineralogists, bimineralogists and geoarchaeologists focused on chronological, (palaeo)environmental, archaeological and ecological researches on soil and sediments, including the practical and applicative aspects.