IUSS Commission 1.6 Paleopedology

IUSS Commission 1.6

PALEOPEDOLOGY

COMMISION EVENTS

PALEOPEDOLOGY:

UNDERSTANDING SOILS OF THE PAST

The IUSS Commission 1.6 Paleopedology promotes interdisciplinary research on paleosols by Pedologists, Geologists, Paleoecologists, and Geoarcheologists. Knowledge on paleosols increases our knowledge of past environments and our understanding of modern soil formation.

Mission and directions of paleopedology

The mission of the Palaeopedology Commission is to promote cooperative research by Soil and Environmental Scientists and Quaternary Geologists to increase our knowledge of past environments derived from paleosols.

In general, paleosols are recognized as soils which have formed under different environmental conditions (in particular climate and vegetation) from those of present day. The study of paleosols is a multi-disciplinary activity, which includes, in addition to Soil Sciences, Earth, Environmental, and Human Sciences. The issues covered by Paleopedology encompass the understanding of soil-forming processes, deep weathering and regolith formation, soil mapping, soil conservation, Quaternary geology, geological mapping, neotectonics, and pedoarchaeology.

The method is to compare the properties of dated paleosols and paleosol sequences with those of modern soils that are related to the known climate and other environmental factors as a proxy for interpreting past climatic and ecological changes and hence predicting soil changes over time.

THE MOTTO OF THE COMMISION IS RERUM COGNOSCERE CAUSAS (TO KNOW THE CAUSE OF THINGS).

Origins in the soils

The Paleopedology Working Group is an integral part of both INQUA and IUSS (International Union of Soil Science, Commission 1.6 Paleopedology).

The motto of the Paleopedology WG is “rerum cognoscere causas” (to know the causes of things).

This Working Group focuses on interpreting both buried and unburied paleosols, as well as paleofeatures in contemporary surface soils, in space and geological time. Paleosols are recognized as soils that have formed under different environmental conditions (particularly climate and vegetation) compared to those of the present day.

Thus, the mission of the Paleopedology Working Group is to promote cooperative, multidisciplinary research among soil and environmental scientists, as well as

Quaternary geologists, to enhance our understanding of past environments, including those impacted by human activities, derived from paleosols.

Research and collaboration

The topics covered by paleopedology include understanding soil-forming processes, deep weathering, regolith formation, soil mapping, soil conservation, Quaternary geology, geological mapping, neotectonics, and pedoarchaeology as an integral part of geoarchaeology. The approach involves comparing the properties of dated paleosols and paleosol sequences with those of modern soils, which are linked to known climate and environmental factors, to interpret past climatic and ecological changes and predict soil changes over time.

The INQUA Paleopedology Working Group / IUSS Commission regularly organizes its own academic meetings and field workshops, along with thematic symposia at INQUA and IUSS congresses and other meetings. These events bring together specialists working on soils and environments of the past to better understand contemporary soils and environments and their future developments.