Soils of the Past: An Introduction to Paleopedology

It is 10 years since publication of the first edition of soils of the past. In that time the subject of paleopedology has grown rapidly, and established itself within the mainstream of geological research.
Ancient soils contain vital mineralogical, geochemical, textural, and paleontological information about the continental environments in which they formed. Advances in isotope geochemistry and sequence–stratigraphic models allow ever more detailed reconstructions of environmental change from paleosols, and new insights into such diverse topics as atmospheric chemistry, global change, palaeoecology, geobiology and mass extinction.
This fully updated second edition of Soils of the Past describes the main types of ancient soil, procedures for their recognition and study, their classification and, most significantly, a wide array of examples of how paleosols have been used for paleoenvironmental reconstruction.
Soils of the past is written for advanced undergraduates studying paleopedology as part of a degree in geology, environmental science, or physical geography, and for interested professional earth scientists.

Spis treści:
Preface to the second edition.
Preface to the First Edition.
Acknowledgments.
Part 1: Soils and Palesols.
1. Paleopedology.
2. Soils and under the landscape.
3. Feature of Fossil Soils.
4. Soil–Forming processes.
5. Soil Classification.
6. Mapping and Naming Palesols.
7. Alteration of Paleosols after burial.
Part 2: Factors in soil formation.
8. Models of Soil Formation.
9. Climate.
Organisms.
11. Topographic relief as a factor.
12. Parent Material as a factor.
13. Time as a Factor.
PART 3: Fossil record of Soils.
14. A long–term natural experiment in pedogenesis.
15. Soils of other worlds.
16. Earth′s earliest landscapes.
17. Earl life on land.
18. Large plants and animals o land.
19. Affo restation of the Land.
20. Grasses in Dry continental Interiors.
21. Human Impact on Landscapes.
Glossary.
References.
Index.

Okładka tylna:
It is 10 years since publication of the first edition of soils of the past. In that time the subject of paleopedology has grown rapidly, and established itself within the mainstream of geological research.
Ancient soils contain vital mineralogical, geochemical, textural, and paleontological information about the continental environments in which they formed. Advances in isotope geochemistry and sequence–stratigraphic models allow ever more detailed reconstructions of environmental change from paleosols, and new insights into such diverse topics as atmospheric chemistry, global change, palaeoecology, geobiology and mass extinction.
This fully updated second edition of Soils of the Past describes the main types of ancient soil, procedures for their recognition and study, their classification and, most significantly, a wide array of examples of how paleosols have been used for paleoenvironmental reconstruction.
Soils of the past is written for advanced undergraduates studying paleopedology as part of a degree in geology, environmental science, or physical geography, and for interested professional earth scientists.