See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Lakes, Playas, and Soils
Abstract:
The Monongahela Group paleosols consist of blocky red, gray, and green mudstones from 0.5 to 2.5 m thick, containing yellow and green mottles, iron nodules, layers of carbonate nodules, slickensides, rhizoliths, and burrows. The assemblage of pedogenic properties lead to the classification of these paleosols as protosols, calcisols, gleysols, and vertisols. The properties of the paleosols, however, vary vertically through the Monongahela section and laterally across the different outcrops. The lateral variations reflect the small-scale complexity of the paleoenvironment across the Pennsylvanian alluvial plain. As a broad pattern, the paleosols indicate that the region was characterized by a seasonal climate with alternating wet and dry periods. The high degree of lateral variability of Monongahela Group paleosols, however, suggests that many of the pedogenic features were the result of local hydrologic and biologic conditions that differed widely across the basin.
See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Lakes, Playas, and Soils