Re: Responses to Paleosol and Geosol

Posted by Dennis Dahms 15 Jun 1999 20:21:32

Fellow Pedo-freaks:

Very interesting little discussion. Two pts., if I may:

1. I tend to agree with Vance H. concerning the utility of the term 'Paleosol', and follow Don
johnson's urging Vance to expand his comment; might as well clear the decks and have at it...

2. Concerning Roger M's presentation of rerasons to use the term GEOSOL -- please correct
me if I've misread the North Am. Strat Code of '83, but isn't GEOSOL defined ONLY for buried
soils? This makes it practically impossible for those of us in the U.S. west to use the term, as our
allostratigraphic units (and the soils developed in them) are often exposed at the surface in one
outcrop, then buried by younger till at another locale. Thus, no one has ever heard of, for
instance, the "Bull Lake geosol" in the Rocky Mtns, because it is often at the surface, and by
definition, cannot be a geosol. So, why set up a term in the Code that can be used in some
regions and not in others?

The folks going to Durban might want to discuss this problem.

Cheers, Dennis

*****************************************************
Dennis Dahms - Associate Professor
Quaternary Studies - Soil Geomorphology
Geography -- Univ. of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0406
PH# (319) 273-6845 FAX: (319) 273-7103 E-Mail: Dennis.Dahms@uni.edu

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