Home / Ecology & Palaeoenvironment / Palaeosols

J.S. Aber, T. Eddy, F. Pavri, and R. Sleezer, Earth Science Department, Emporia State University, Kansas:
Wetland Environments. An interdisciplinary overview of physical, biological and cultural aspects of wetlands. Definitions, classifications, origins, and natural processes of wetland environments. Wetlands in boreal, temperate, and tropical climatic settings. See also:
Wetland Soils in the U.S.
Websites outdated. The link is to versions archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! S. Adl et al. (2010): Reconstructing the soil food web of a 100 million-year-old forest: The case of the mid-Cretaceous fossils in the amber of Charentes (SW France). PDF file, Soil Biology & Biochemistry. See also here.

T. Alekseeva et al. (2016): Characteristics of Early Earth's Critical Zone Based on Middle—Late Devonian Paleosol Properties (Voronezh High, Russia). In PDF, Clays and Clay Minerals, 64: 677–694. https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2016.064044.
Note also here.
Note figure 13: Terrane map of western and central Laurussia (including the Laurentian sector) and adjacent areas in the late Devonian (Famennian).

Ana María Alonso-Zarza and Lawrence H. Tanner (2006): Paleoenvironmental Record and Applications of Calcretes and Palustrine Carbonates. GSA Special Papers 416 (Google books).

! A.M. Alonso-Zarza (2003): Palaeoenvironmental significance of palustrine carbonates and calcretes in the geological record. In PDF, Earth-Science Reviews, 60: 261-298. See also here (abstract).

! Lorna Ash & Brett Poulin, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta: Instructional Multimedia, Multimedia Topics, Introductory Biology. Go to: The Carbon Cycle, The Nitrogen Cycle. Online and downloadable flash movies. Excellent!
Now provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Bailly, F. (Kassel), Felix-Hennigsen, P. (Giessen), Klassen, H. (Osnabrück) & Stephan, S. (Bonn): Synsedimentary Paleo-Vertisols in Upper Jurassic sequences of Northwestern Germany (Wiehengebirge).

P. Baldrian (2017): Forest microbiome: diversity, complexity and dynamics. Free access, FEMS Microbiology Reviews, 41: 109–130.

N. Bätz et al. (2015): Organic matter processing and soil evolution in a braided river system. In PDF, Catena, 126: 86-97.

N.M. Baxter (2001): Know Your Soils - Part 1 Introduction to Soils. In PDF, State of Victoria, Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

! H. Beraldi-Campesi (2013): Early life on land and the first terrestrial ecosystems. In PDF, Ecological Processes, 2. See also here.
Note figure 1: Suggested chronology of geological, atmospheric, and biological events during the Hadean, Archean, and Paleoproterozoic eons.

James Bonczek, Soil and Water Sciences Department, University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Gainesville, FL: Introduction to Soils in the Environment. These instructions are intended to acquaint students with the importance of soils to humans and the environment through study of their morphology, physical and chemical properties, their distribution, and their biological significance. Go to:
! Lecture notes. Powerpoint presentations.
Some essential vocabulary (Word file).
Brief Soil Taxonomy Summary (in PDF).
! Don´t miss the Web resources link list! Arranged roughly into relevant categories.

A.P. Broz (2020): Organic Matter Preservation in Ancient Soils of Earth and Mars. In PDF, Life, 2020, 10.

L.A. Buatois et al. (2016): The Mesozoic Lacustrine Revolution. Abstract, The Trace-Fossil Record of Major Evolutionary Events, Series Topics in Geobiology, 40: 179-263.
! See also here (in PDF).

Canadian Soil Information System (CanSIS): SOIL TERMS GLOSSARY.

B. Chefetz (2007): Decomposition and sorption characterization of plant cuticles in soil. In PDF, Plant and Soil, 298: 21-30.

Citable reviews in the life sciences (Wiley). Go to:
Soil.

H.G. Coffin, Geoscience Research Institute, Loma Linda, CA: THE YELLOWSTONE PETRIFIED "FORESTS". All about the petrified forests of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and Montana.
Website outdated, download a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

M.L. Crocker (2012): The dirt on paleosols: sedimentology and paleoclimate indicators within the upper triassic Chinle Formation, Paria, Utah. In PDF. Thesis, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah.

N.S. Davies and M.R. Gibling (2010): Cambrian to Devonian evolution of alluvial systems: The sedimentological impact of the earliest land plants. Abstract, Earth-Science Reviews, 98: 171-200.

! G. De Lafontaine et al. (2011): Permineralization process promotes preservation of Holocene macrofossil charcoal in soils. Abstract, Journal of Quaternary Science, 26. See also here (in PDF).

! L.E.V. Del-Bem (2018): Xyloglucan evolution and the terrestrialization of green plants. Free access, New Phytologist, 219: 1150–1153.

Deutsche Bodenkundliche Gesellschaft (in German).

William A. DiMichele et al. (2010): Cyclic changes in Pennsylvanian paleoclimate and effects on floristic dynamics in tropical Pangaea. PDF file, International Journal of Coal Geology, 83: 329-344. See also here.

John C. Dixon, Department of Geography, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville (hosted by Foundation for Agrarian Development Research, Russia): An International Consensus on Calcareous Paleosol Classification.

! Paul Driessen, Wageningen Agricultural University, International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC), Jozef Deckers, Catholic University of Leuven Otto Spaargaren, International Soil Reference and Information Centre Freddy Nachtergaele, FAO: Lecture notes on the major soils of the world. This document presents lecture notes on the major soils of the world based on the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB). These lecture notes will be progressively improved.

P. Driessen et al.: Lecture notes on the major soils of the world. Abstract.

! R.F. Dubiel and S.T. Hasiotis (2011): Deposystems, paleosols, and climatic variability in a continental system: the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation, Colorado Plateau, USA. In PDF. From River To Rock Record: The Preservation Of Fluvial Sediments And Their Subsequent Interpretation. SEPM Special Publication No. 97.

! J. Enga (2015): Paleosols in the Triassic De Geerdalen and Snadd formations. In PDF, Master thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet. See also here.

Mark Francek (Central Michigan University), The Science Education Resource Center (SERC), Carleton College: Teaching Geoscience with Visualizations: Using Images, Animations, and Models Effectively, Soil Horizons. Find animations illustrating the development of soil horizons and their characteristics. See also: Physical Properties of Soil, and Soil Orders.
Snapshots taken by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

R.A. Gastaldo et al. (2013): Latest Permian paleosols from Wapadsberg Pass, South Africa: Implications for Changhsingian climate. In PDF, GSA Bulletin.

R.A. Gastaldo and T.M. Demko (2011): The relationship between continental landscape evolution and the plant-fossil record: long term hydrologic controls on preservation. In PDF, Taphonomy: 249-285.
See also here.

! J.F. Genise et al. (2016): The Phanerozoic Four Revolutions and Evolution of Paleosol Ichnofacies. Abstract, The Trace-Fossil Record of Major Evolutionary Events, Series Topics in Geobiology, 40: 301-370.

Geological Society of America: GSA Annual Meeting, October 27-30, 2002, Denver, CO: Abstracts. Go to: T75. Paleosols and Phanerozoic Climate: Geochemistry to Trace Fossils.

GEsource (the geography and environment hub of the Resource Discovery Network (RDN), the UK’s free national gateway to Internet resources for the learning, teaching and research community). Browse and navigate from here. Go to: Soil science (pedology).

The Geotechnical Micromorphology and Microanalysis Centre GMMC), School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, England: Soil Micromorphology Home Page.

Google directory:
! Science > Agriculture > Soils > Soil Morphology, Classification and Survey, Soil Ecology, Soil Microbiology.

M. Hanif and K.B. Siva, Department of Land Management, Putra Malaysia University: Dr. Soil Surfs. Links to various web sites all over the world regarding information about soils and agriculture.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Robert Harter, Department of Natural Resources, University of New Hampshire, Durham: Chemistry of Soils.
Website outdated, download a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Thomas Hintze, HintzeOnline and Springer: Sciences of Soils. Sciences of Soils provides an international peer-reviewed online forum on a broad range of topics of interest to soil scientists. go to: Soils Online. Links to Soil Science resources and related topics in the World Wide Web and Teaching Online.

Stephen D. Hopper (2009): OCBIL theory: towards an integrated understanding of the evolution, ecology and conservation of biodiversity on old, climatically buffered, infertile landscapes. PDF file, Plant Soil, 322: 49-86.
See likewise here.

M.P. Howson et al. (2022): Rare preservation of Triassic pedorelicts with biogenic traces from a hot semi-arid upland palaeoenvironment at Portishead, SW England. Free access, Proceedings of the Geologists' Association.
"... Preservation of upland pedogenicmaterial of Triassic age is very rare or unrecorded in SW England, but it occurs at several coastal locations near Portishead, not as an in-situ palaeosol but as pedorelicts, which contain evidence of aeolian deposition, calcretization and other pedogenic features. ..."

International Humic Substances Society:
The motto of IHSS is "To Advance the Knowledge, Research and Application of Humic Substances".
For scientists with interest in humic substances in the coal, soil, and water sciences, and to provide opportunities for them to exchange ideas, skills, and viewpoints.
See also here (Wikipedia).

The International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS). IUSS is the global union of soil scientists.

A. Hope Jahren, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore: Factors of soil formation: Biota. PDF file, 2004, In D. Hillel, C. Rosenzweig, D. Powlson, K. Scow, M. Singer and D. Sparks. (Editors), Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment. Academic Press, New York, pages 507-512.

Noorallah G. Juma, University of Alberta (Canada), and Salman Productions: The Pedosphere and its Dynamics. A dozen sections provide illustrated information on the basics of soil; ecological functions of soil; soil texture, color, and structure; soil formation; soil classification systems in Canada; mineralogy; soil reactions and chemistry; soil water; soil air; soil ecology; soil organic matter; and soil survey.
Still available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! I. Kögel-Knabner (2002): The macromolecular organic composition of plant and microbial residues as inputs to soil organic matter. In PDF, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 34: 139-162.
See also here.

! M.J. Kraus and S.T. Hasiotis (2006): Significance of different modes of rhizolith preservation to interpreting paleoenvironmental and paleohydrologic settings: examples from Paleogene paleosols. In PDF, Journal of Sedimentary Research, 76: 633-646.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! M.J. Kraus (1999): Paleosols in clastic sedimentary rocks: their geologic applications. In PDF, Earth-Science Reviews, 47: 41-70.

M.J. Kraus, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder: Using multiple paleosol proxies to interpret paleoclimate change: An earliest Eocene example from Wyoming. In PDF.
See also here (Powerpoint presentation).

Khudadad (2021): A Middle Devonian vernal pool ecosystem provides a snapshot of the earliest forests. Open access, PLoS ONE 16(9): e0255565.
Note figure 14: Representative fossils of roots systems belonging to three Middle Devonian tree clades.

! J. Lehmann et al. (2011): Biochar effects on soil biota - a review. In PDF, Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 43: 1812-1836. See also here (abstract).

E.G. Leigh Jr. (2022): Fossil soils: trace fossils of ecosystems on land and windows on the context of evolution. Free access, Evolution: Education and Outreach volume 15.
This is a review of Soil Grown Tall: The Epic Saga of Life from Earth, by Gregory J. Retallack.

! T.M. Lenton and S.J. Daines (2016): Matworld - the biogeochemical effects of early life on land. In PDF, New Phytologist.

M. Lu et al. (2019): Geochemical Evidence of First Forestation in the Southernmost Euramerica from Upper Devonian (Famennian) Black Shales. Free access, Scientific Reports, 9.
"... Plant residues (microfossils, vitrinite and inertinite) and biomarkers derived from terrestrial plants and wildfire occur throughout the stratigraphic section, suggesting widespread forest in the southern Appalachian Basin, a region with no macro plant fossil record during the Famennian. Inorganic geochemical results, as shown by increasing values of SiO2/ Al2O3, Ti/Al, Zr/Al, and the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) upon time sequence, suggest enhanced continental weathering that may be attributed to the invasion of barren lands by rooted land plants. ..."

L. Luthardt et al. (2016): Palaeoclimatic and site-specific conditions in the early Permian fossil forest of Chemnitz—Sedimentological, geochemical and palaeobotanical evidence. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 441: 627–652.
See also here.

G.H. Mack et al. (1993): Classification of paleosols. Abstract, GSA Bulletin, 105: 129–136.
See also here.

P. Maffre et al. (2022): The complex response of continental silicate rock weathering to the colonization of the continents by vascular plants in the Devonian. In PDF,
See also here.
"... The fossil record shows that, by the end of the Devonian, vascular plants and forests were common and widespread [...]
we build a mathematical description of the coupled response of the physical erosion and chemical weathering on the continents, to the colonization by vascular plants over the course of the Devonian.

A.C. Mancuso et al. 2022): Paleoenvironmental and Biotic Changes in the Late Triassic of Argentina: Testing Hypotheses of Abiotic Forcing at the Basin Scale. Free access, Front. Earth Sci., 10:883788. doi: 10.3389/feart.2022.883788.
See also here.
Note chapter 1.1: Climate and Evolution in the Triassic of Gondwana.
"... we synthesize a multi-proxy basin-scale dataset of paleoenvironmental data, including new information from clay mineralogy and paleosol major- and trace-element geochemistry, to understand paleoclimate changes ..."

Phil McNamara, Waterfiltersfast.com: Erosion: Wind, Water, and Ice. Information in a nutshell and a useful link list.

I. Méndez-Bedia et al. (2020): Pedogenic and subaerial exposure microfabrics in a late Carboniferous-early Permian carbonate-volcanic lacustrine-palustrine system (San Ignacio Formation, Frontal Cordillera, Argentina). Andean Geology, 47. See also here (in PDF).

Space Physics Research Laboratory, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: GLOBAL CHANGE I. The University of Michigan's Global Change Curriculum offers an innovative approach in undergraduate science and social science education as part of the Program in the Environment. In three interdisciplinary, team-taught courses the topic of Global Change from physical and human perspectives are examined. The courses are aimed at first and second year students who want to understand the historical and modern aspects of Global Change. Go to: Soils, Weathering, and Nutrients.

The Minnesota Association of Professional Soil Scientists (MAPSS):
Introduction to Soils.
A guided tour outlining the features that make soil a unique physical material, e.g. the soil components, soil-forming factors, and the chemical and physical properties of soil.
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

R.L. Mitchell et al. (2021): Cryptogamic ground covers as analogues for early terrestrial biospheres: Initiation and evolution of biologically mediated proto-soils. Open access, Geobiology, 19: 292-306.
Note fig. 8: Illustrations summarising the key features in modern lichen, thalloid plant, moss and mixed proto-soils.

R.L. Mitchell et al. (2021): Correlative Microscopy: a tool for understanding soil weathering in modern analogues of early terrestrial biospheres. In PDF, Scientific Reports.

R. Moench and J. Fusaro (2003): Soil Erosion Control after Wildfire. In PDF, Colorado State University, Fact sheet N. 6308. (Boulder, CO).

! J.L. Morris et al. (2015): Investigating Devonian trees as geo-engineers of past climates: linking palaeosols to palaeobotany and experimental geobiology. In PDF, Palaeontology, 58: 787-801. See also here.

! Dennis C. Murphy, ("Devonian Times", a paleontology web site featuring Red Hill): Who's Who at Red Hill, Soil Development.

! Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), United States Department of Agriculture: Soils. "Helping people understand soils". Soils is part of the National Cooperative Soil Survey, an effort of Federal and State agencies, universities, and professional societies to deliver scientifically based soil information. See also:
Soil Taxonomy. The second edition of soil taxonomy, a basic system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil surveys is now available here in PDF format for printing or viewing.

W.R. Norris, Department of Natural Sciences, Western New Mexico University, Silver City, NM:
The Challenges of Life on Land. Lecture notes, powerpoint presentation. See also here (in PDF).

! T.J. Orr and E.M. Roberts (2024): A review and field guide for the standardized description and sampling of paleosols. Open access, Earth-Science Reviews, 253.
"... Paleosols are unrivaled terrestrial archives of paleoclimatic, paleoecological, and paleoenvironmental conditions
[...] we have illustrated and tabulated key paleosol features and classification schemes, including horizon determination and classification; ped determination and classification; mottle description; mineral accumulation description/morphology; burrow/chamber morphology and description; and rhizolith morphology and classification ..."

D. Ortlam (1980): Erkennung und Bedeutung fossiler Bodenkomplexe in Locker- und Festgesteinen. PDF file, in German. Geol. Rdschau, 69: 581-593.

D. Ortlam (1974): Inhalt und Bedeutung fossiler Bodenkomplexe in Perm und Trias von Mitteleuropa. PDF file, in German. Geol. Rdschau, 63: 850-884.

£. Pawlik et al. 2020): Impact of trees and forests on the Devonian landscape and weathering processes with implications to the global Earth's system properties – A critical review. In PDF, Earth-Science Reviews, 205: doi 10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103200.
See also here.
Note fig. 2. Spatial configuration of continents in the Devonian.
Note fig. 3: Landscape reconstruction with stands of Pseudosporochnus, up to 4 m high, with Protopteridium in shruby layer and herbaceous Drepanophycus and Protolepidodendron in understorey.
Note fig. 6: A close look at trees diversification and selected accompanying events in the Devonian.

S.J. Prochnow: Paleosols as an Indicator of Ancient Landscapes, Climates and Stratal Response during the Triassic: The Salt Anticline Region of Utah. In PDF; thesis, Baylor University. See also here (abstract) and there.

! J.A. Raven (2018): How long have photosynthetic organisms been aggregating soils? Free access, New Phytologist,219: 1139–1141.

J.A. Raven and M. Andrews (2010): Evolution of tree nutrition. In PDF, Tree Physiology, 30: 1050-1071. See also here.

G.J. Retallack (2015): Silurian vegetation stature and density inferred from fossil soils and plants in Pennsylvania, USA. In PDF, Journal of the Geological Society.
Reconstructed Siluro-Devonian plants on PDF page 14.
See also here (abstract).

G.J. Retallack (2013): Ediacaran life on land. In PDF, Nature, 493: 89–92.
See also here (Spaceref), and there (Xiao et al. 2014).

G.J. Retallack and C. Huang (2011): Ecology and evolution of Devonian trees in New York, USA. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 299: 110-128. See also here.

! G.J. Retallack (1985): Fossil soils as grounds for interpreting the advent of large plants and animals on land. In PDF, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London B, 309: 105-142.

G.J.Retallack, University of Oregon, Eugene: Soils and Global Change in the Carbon Cycle over Geological Time (PDF file).

Greg Retallack, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene:
! Soilscapes of the Past. This set of published reconstructions of ancient landscapes and their soils provide an overview of the evolution of soils and landscapes through geological time. See also:
! Scientific Diagrams. Classification of paleosols into the U.S. soil taxonomy using field and petrographic characteristics.
These expired links are now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

V. Robin and O. Nelle (2011): Main data and general insights of recent soil charcoal investigations on nine sites in Central Europe. In PDF.

D.G. Rossiter, International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC), Enschede, The Netherlands: A Compendium of On-Line Soil Survey Information. An index of learning resources.
This expired link is now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

I. Salins and A. J. Ringrose-Voase, CSIRO Division of Soils, Canberra, Australia: Impregnation Techniques for Soils and Clay Materials: The problems and overcoming them. PDF file.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

! M.W.I. Schmidt et al. (2011): Persistence of soil organic matter as an ecosystem property. In PDF, Nature, 478: 49–56.
See also here.
Note figure 3: A synopsis of all eight insights, contrasting historical and emerging views of soil carbon cycling.

R.R. Schoch and D. Seegis (2014): Taphonomy, deposition and pedogenesis in the Upper Triassic dinosaur beds of Trossingen. Abstract, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 94: 571–593. See also here (in PDF).

! S.A. Schroeter et al. (2022): Microbial community functioning during plant litter decomposition. Free access, Sci. Rep., 12.
"... findings suggest that bacteria secrete a variety of natural antibiotics in an effort to compete against other bacteria or fungi within the decomposer community. Competitive pressure likely drives constant adaptation and optimization of decomposer community functioning.

Seafriends Marine Conservation and Education Centre, New Zealand: Soil: use, sustainability and conservation. Go to: Classification of common rocks and soils and more. An overview of common minerals, rocks, soils and their properties, and how they relate.

! M.-A. Selosse and F. Rousset (2011): The Plant-Fungal Marketplace. In PDF, Science.

M.A. Sephton et al. (2015): Terrestrial acidification during the end-Permian biosphere crisis? IN PDF, Geology, 43: 159-162. See also here, and there.

N.D. Sheldon and N.J. Tabor (2013): Using paleosols to understand paleo-carbon burial. In PDF, New Frontiers in Paleopedology and Terrestrial Paleoclimatology, 104: 71-78.

! N.D. Sheldon and N.J. Tabor (2009): Quantitative paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstruction using paleosols. PDF file, Earth-Science Reviews, 95: 1-52.
See also here.

Philip Small, National Society of Consulting Soil: NSCSS Soil Science Links.

The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), Madison, WI. The primary purpose of the Society is to advance the discipline and practice of soil science by acquiring and disseminating information about soils in relation to crop production, environmental quality, ecosystem sustainability, bioremediation, waste management and recycling, and wise land use.

The Soil Science Society of America: Glossary of Soil Science Terms. Hundreds of terms can be viewed alphabetically, searched, or downloaded.

The Soils Group, Inc.: NSCSS Soil Science Links.

John Stear, The Evolution Education Site Ring, Australia (SiteRing by Bravenet.com): A Paleosol Bibliography.

G.S. Soreghan et al. (2023): Dust and loess as archives and agents of climate and climate change in the late Paleozoic Earth system. Free access.
From: Lucas, S. G., DiMichele, W. A., Opluštil, S. and Wang, X. (eds.), 2023: Ice Ages, Climate Dynamics and Biotic Events: the Late Pennsylvanian World. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 535: 195–223.
Note Figure 1: Pangaea configurations for the early Permian (c. 290 Ma).
Figure 4: Provenance and palaeogeography of western equatorial Pangaea.
"... Palaeo-loess and silty aeolian-marine strata are well recognized across the Carboniferous–Permian of equatorial Pangaea. Aeolian-transported dust and loess appear in the Late Devonian in the west, are common by the Late Carboniferous, and predominate across equatorial Pangaea by the Permian
[...] The late Paleozoic was Earth’s largest and most long-lived dust bowl ..."

G. Stoops, Laboratorium voor Mineralogie, Petrologie en Micropedologie, Geologisch Instituut, Universiteit Gent, Belgium: Key to the ISSS "Handbook for Soil Thin Section Description". Keys are given for following items : voids, microstructures, c/f-related distributions, pedofeatures, morphological types of pedofeatures, coatings (including hypo-coatings and quasi-coatings), infillings, intercallations, nodules, b-fabrics and organic matter.

Alan Strahler, Boston University, and Arthur Strahler: Introducing Physical Geography, Table of Contents. This Student's Companion was written to help you develop a well-organized and systematic approach to learning the material presented in Physical Geography: Science and Systems of the Human Environment. Go to: Soil Systems.

N.J. Tabor and T.S. Myers (2015): Paleosols as Indicators of Paleoenvironment and Paleoclimate. In PDF, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 43.
See here as well.
"... Soils form in response to interactions among the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere, so paleosols potentially record physical, biological, and chemical information about past conditions near Earth's surface. As a result, paleosols are an important resource for terrestrial environmental and climatic reconstructions ..."

N.J. Tabor et al. (2013): Conservatism of Late Pennsylvanian vegetational patterns during short-term cyclic and long-term directional environmental change, western equatorial Pangea. Geol Soc Spec Publ., 376: 201–234; available in PMC 2014.

L.H. Tanner et al. (2014): Pedogenic and lacustrine features of the Brushy Basin Member of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation in Western Colorado: Reassessing the paleoclimate interpretations. In PDF.

John Thomas in Gainsville, Florida SoilWeb. SoilWeb is a site devoted to providing information and web links covering all aspects of soil and water sciences.

! A.J. van Loon (2009): Soft-sediment deformation structures in siliciclastic sediments: an overview. I)n PDF, Geologos, 15: 3–55.
See also here.
"... various deformational processes, which are subdivided here into (1) endogenic processes resulting in endoturbations; (2) gravity-dominated processes resulting in graviturbations, which can be subdivided further into (2a) astroturbations, (2b) praecipiturbations, (2c) instabiloturbations, (2d) compagoturbations and (2e) inclinaturbations; and (3) exogenic processes resulting in exoturbations, which can be further subdivided into (3a) bioturbations – with subcategories (3a’) phytoturbations, (3a’’) zooturbations and (3a’’’) anthropoturbations – (3b) glaciturbations, (3c) thermoturbations, (3d) hydroturbations, (3e) chemoturbations, and (3f) eoloturbations. ..."

! G. Wang et al. (2008): Paleovegetation reconstruction using &delta 13 C of Soil Organic Matter. PDF file, Biogeosciences.

Z. Wang (1993): Evolutionary ecosystem of Permian-Triassic redbeds in North China: a historical record of global desertification. In PDF; The Nonmarine Triassic. See also here.

Ian West, Southampton Oceanography Centre, School of Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton University: The Fossil Forest, west of Lulworth Cove, Dorset, southern England. This is a classic geological locality with the remains and moulds of late Jurassic or early Cretaceous coniferous trees rooted in a palaeosol, the Great Dirt Bed. Above the trees is stromatolitic limestone and over this the unusual Broken Beds, a limestone breccia that was originally evaporitic.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Gilgai.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Soil Science.
World Reference Base for Soil Resources.
Hydroturbation (in German).

www.kieseltorf.de. Permineralized plant fossils from Germany (in German).

! J. Xue et al. (2016): Belowground rhizomes in paleosols: The hidden half of an Early Devonian vascular plant. In PDF, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113. See also here (abstract).

M. Zech (2006): The Use of Biomarker and Stable Isotope Analyses in Palaeopedology. Reconstruction of Middle and Late Quaternary Environmental and Climate History, with Examples from Mt. Kilimanjaro, NE Siberia and NE Argentina. Dissertation, University of Bayreuth, Germany.
See also here.

S. Zhou et al. (2020): Decomposition of leaf litter mixtures across biomes: The role of litter identity, diversity and soil fauna. Open access, Journal of Ecology. See also here (in PDF).