See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223948755 Mineralogy and morphological properties of buried polygenetic paleosols formed in late quaternary sediments on upland landscapes of the central plains, USA ARTICLE in GEODERMA · JANUARY 2010 Impact Factor: 2.77 · DOI: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2009.03.015 CITATIONS READS 7 17 3 AUTHORS, INCLUDING: Deann Ricks Presley Michel D Ransom Kansas State University Kansas State University 34 PUBLICATIONS 133 CITATIONS 29 PUBLICATIONS 593 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE All in-text references underlined in blue are linked to publications on ResearchGate, Available from: Deann Ricks Presley letting you access and read them immediately. Retrieved on: 02 February 2016 Geoderma 154 (2010) 508–517 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Geoderma journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geoderma Mineralogy and morphological properties of buried polygenetic paleosols formed in late quaternary sediments on upland landscapes of the central plains, USA DeAnn Ricks Presley ⁎, Paul E. Hartley, M.D. Ransom Kansas State University, Department of Agronomy, United States article info abstract Article history: East central Kansas is largely comprised of alternating, level beds of Permian shale and limestone of the Received 14 August 2008 Central Plains, USA. Polygenetic upland soils of east central Kansas have been formed though multiple and Received in revised form 12 February 2009 likely different sets of soil forming factors. Upland soils in this region have a complex genesis, often contain Accepted 20 March 2009 one or more paleosols, and form in multiple parent materials including loess, locally reworked loess or Available online 22 April 2009 colluvium, and residuum. The depth to bedrock rarely exceeds 2 m. Upland hillslope soils commonly contain one or more paleosols, and can be observed on a variety of hillslope positions on the landscape. Generally, the Keywords: Paleosols lower paleosols are recognized by strongly expressed structure, thick continuous clay coatings on all faces of Mineralogy peds, and strong reddish color with either 7.5YR or 5YR hues. Soil textures of the paleosols often feel less Landscapes clayey than the overlying horizons in field determinations. At first, this was attributed to a decrease in clay Loess content, stickiness, and plasticity. However, subsequent laboratory characterization revealed that the clay Quaternary content was usually highest in the lower paleosol horizons, and that the clay mineralogy of the modern soil Great Plains was dominated by smectite, while the paleosols contained a mixed suite of minerals. Therefore, the perceived Central Plains decrease in clay content was caused by a change in clay mineralogy, a feature that can be exploited in future field descriptions in order to more accurately distinguish between stratigraphic units in these thin, welded polygenetic soils. The age of the paleosols sampled in this study were typical for the late Quaternary-aged Severance formation, clustering in two age ranges, which were ≈19,000 to 20,000 and ≈22,500 to 27,700 uncalibrated 14C yr BP. The results from this study illustrate that although they might be thin, truncated, and welded, late Quaternary-aged loess-derived soils and paleosols occur in regular, predictable patterns on many upland hillslopes in the Bluestem Hills Major Land Resource Area, and this region should be included in future regional investigations of the Central Plains. Published by Elsevier B.V. 1. Introduction other adjacent areas of the Central Plains. Although loess was likely deposited in this region, it is generally held that most of the loess has The Bluestem Hills (Fig. 1) are underlain by alternating, level beds eroded from the upland hillslopes. of Permian shale and limestone, some of which are quite cherty. Loess–paleosol sequences of the Quaternary Period are present Differential weathering of the shale and limestone features has throughout much of the plains. Loess units widely recognized in the created a repeating bench-and-slope topography, and as such, Central Plains include the Loveland (deposited approximately relatively stable landforms exist up and down the larger, steep 500,000 to 100,00 yr BP), Gilman Canyon Formation (deposited hillslopes. Upland soils in the Bluestem Hills Major Land Resource Area approximately 41,000 to 20,000 yr BP), and Peoria Loess (deposited (MLRA 76) are thought to have a long and complex genesis, to contain approximately 25,000 to 11,000 yr BP). Frye and Leonard (1952) multiple parent materials, and to have formed under tallgrass prairie estimated that one-third of Kansas has Peoria loess at the surface. in an area that is transitional between udic and ustic moisture Later, Welch and Hale (1987) used a combination of sources including regimes. Parent materials were historically described as clayey geologic maps and county soil surveys to estimate that approximately sediments, such as residuum, although recent investigations have 65% of the state was covered with Pleistocene loess. According to described a more complicated and polygenetic suite of parent Welch and Hale (1987), widespread loess deposits are not recognized materials for the modern soil and underlying paleosols (Wehmueller, in east-central and southeastern Kansas, which includes the southern 1996; Glaze, 1998). Thick loess deposits (N2 m) are not recognized in two-thirds of the Bluestem Hills MLRA. this portion of Kansas, although thicker loess units are recognized in On upland landscapes in east central Kansas, including the study area, buried paleosols with preserved A horizons are rare. It is much fi ⁎ Corresponding author. Fax: +1 785 532 6315. more common to nd the modern soil superimposed (e.g.,welded) E-mail address: [email protected] (D.R. Presley). almost seamlessly onto the Bt horizon of one (or more than one) 0016-7061/$ – see front matter. Published by Elsevier B.V. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2009.03.015 D.R. Presley et al. / Geoderma 154 (2010) 508–517 509 Fig. 1. Location of Bluestem Hills Major Land Resource Area in Kansas, and example of the landscape and vegetation of the study area. paleosol. Also, it is common to see a dark red soil that is located above contain two paleosols. In addition, these upland soils occur on hillslope bedrock, and beneath the upper material (loess). This red paleosol locations across the landscape and can be recognized by subtle sharply contacts interbedded Permian limestones and shales, and is differences in morphology as well as differences in mineralogical commonly regarded by soil scientists as being derived mostly from composition. Therefore, the objective of this study was to use residuum from these bedrock members. The soil matrix is often dark morphology as well as laboratory characterization including mineralogy red in color with hues of 5YR or 7.5YR (or redder) and values and to identify the stratigraphy and features of soil development within chromas of 4 or less. This material is very clayey and dense, with polygenetic soil profiles that are mapped on hillslopes. The secondary strongly expressed structure, thick clay films, and rock fragments that objectives were to confirm field observations of paleosols and subtle may or may not be similar to the underlying bedrock. Many soil differences noticed between paleosols, which are often difficult to scientists agree that this is a paleosol, but differ in opinions as to the distinguish in thin loess-derived soils due to welding of the thin units via parent material and age of the paleosol and/or sediments. pedogenesis (Jacobs and Mason, 2007; Johnson et al., 2007), and to We hypothesize that although the upland soils of east central Kansas relate these thin, predominately loess-derived soils to the current body lack buried A horizons that are preserved, they are polygenetic and often of knowledge on Great Plains loess and paleosol sequences. 510 D.R. Presley et al. / Geoderma 154 (2010) 508–517 2. Site and methods (containing 30 mg of clay) were pipetted onto a glass slide. A Phillips XRG-3100 generator and an APD 3520 X-Ray diffractometer was used 2.1. Geographic setting and site location to analyze all samples. The clay specimens were scanned from 2°2θ to 34°2s for the Mg 25 °C treatment, and from 2°2θ to 15°2θ for the other The study area is located in the lower Cottonwood River watershed treatments. The silt samples were scanned from 18°2θ to 54°2θ using in the Bluestem Hills Major Land Resource Area in eastern Chase powder diffraction specimen holders. The d-spacing of each peak was County, Kansas (Fig. 1). Land use for all sampled pedons is either determined using the table on p. 224 of Jackson (1975), and the clay native range or land that is in hay pastures. In this physiographic minerals were subsequently identified. region, the shallow nature of the soil profiles makes it unsuitable for cultivation. However, some land was cultivated for a brief period 2.5. Numerical dating and stable isotope analysis during the mid twentieth century and then planted to grass for hay production. Sampling locations A, B, and C were in native range Five horizons (one per pedon) were selected for numerical dating pastures, and D was in a formerly cultivated hay pasture. Predominant of paleosols. Samples were analyzed by the Illinois Geological Survey vegetation types are listed in Table 1. Annual precipitation is 785 to Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory. Samples were processed, purified 965 mm (USDA-NRCS, 2006). and collected by cryogenic distillation for accelerator mass spectro- metry (AMS) 14C and δ13C analyses (Hong Wang, personal commu- 2.2. Field description and sampling nication). Stable carbon isotope values (‰) are reported relative to a standard reference material, the Peedee belemnite (PDB) standard Nineteen soil pedons were sampled from four hillslope positions. (Faure, 1998). All pedons were described using the Field Book for Describing and Sampling Soils (Schoeneberger et al., 2002).