Report on the International Conference & Field Workshop on Paleopedology: "Palaeosols, Geomorphic Evolution of Landscape and Paleoclimate Change",
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Alexander Makeev
Mar 11, 2008, 2:27:13 PM3/11/08
to International paleopedology commission
Report on the International Conference & Field Workshop on
Paleopedology:
“Palaeosols, Geomorphic Evolution of Landscape and Paleoclimate
Change”,
held in Chennai, India, 10-14 January 2008
Fabio Scarciglia, Simone Priori, Edoardo A.C. Costantini
From the 10th to the 14th of January 2008, the International
Conference & Field Workshop on Paleopedology: “Paleosols, Geomorphic
Evolution of landscape and Paleoclimate Change”, organized by Hema
Achyuthan (Department of Geology, Anna University), took place in
Chennai (Madras), India.
The meeting was inaugurated by Prof. L. Elango (Department of Geology)
and Dr. K. Jayaraman, dean of the Anna University, who addressed the
welcome to the participants, followed by the opening speech of the
President of the Paleopedology Commission, Dr. E.A.C. Costantini, the
release of the Abstract Volume by Prof. A. Bronger (University of
Kiel) and the ceremonial Vote to Thanks handled by Hema Achyuthan. The
hosts greeted the colleagues coming from abroad, who had given the
many Indian young participant an important opportunity of enhancing
the quality of their research through an international comparison and
exchange of opinions. The President of the Paleopedology Commission,
after having introduced the Paleopedology group as a Commission inside
the International Union of Soil Sciences and subcommission of the
International Union for Quaternary Research stressed, among other, the
importance of involving the emerging countries in the activities of
the two Scientific Societies, also by supporting the meetings and
conferences organized in those countries.
The introductory key lecture was carried out by Prof. Arnt Bronger,
about vetusols and relict soils of south India. About forty oral
presentations coupled with a dozen of posters were presented during
the whole meeting, the major part of them by young scientists. The
contributions included a variety of scientific topics, spanning from
the study of paleosols in the framework of geomorphological evolution,
stratigraphy and sedimentology, soil genesis, paleoclimate
reconstruction and climatic change, geochronology, geochemical and
isotopic signature, carbon and microbial dynamics in the earth
ecosystem, soil sustainability, land use and human impact, etc. As a
consequence, also methodological approaches were interestingly
assorted and sometimes very innovative, especially in a number of
multidisciplinary works.
In the first scientific session, chaired by Edoardo Costantini, the
following papers were presented: “A stratigraphical and genetical
revision of classic Appennine fringe palaeosols” by Stefano
Carnicelli, “Late Pleistocene environmental change in a northern
sector of the peninsula de Yucatán, Mexico, based on sedimentological
and paleopedological proxies” by Elizabeth Solleiro-Rebolledo,
“Micromorphological, LA-ICP-MS and radionuclide analyses of two soil
transects in Sardinia, Italy: genetic, morphodynamic and chronological
implications” by Fabio Scarciglia, and “Paleosols as tools for the
detailed reconstruction of alluvial fan architectures” by Rossano
Ciampalini.
Irina Kovda led the second session, during which Stefano Carnicelli
spoke about “A pedostratigraphic marker for the Main Ethiopian Rift
(MER)”, Simone Priori presented “Pedostratigraphic and
geomorphological evidences of Quaternary tectonic activity in a
coastal terraces flight of south-west Sicily (Italy)”, Brigitte Urban
dealt with the “Characterisation of Fluvisols and sedimentation
processes in the Elbe River flood plain, northern Germany, during the
Late Holocene”. M.A Bronnikova presented the paper “Late Holocene
climate-related change of fluvial activity and floodplain pedogenesis
in the upper Dnieper basin (Russian plain)”, Pankaj Srivastava showed
“Micromorphology and clay mineralogy of Late Quaternary loess-
paleosols of Kangra intermontane basin, NW Himalayas: Paleoclimatic
implications”, Chun Chang Huang “Holocene loess-palaeosol derived from
the overbank flood deposit of the Yellow River, China”.
Arnt Bronger was the chairman of the second-day scientific session,
initiated by a lecture on “Tephric paleosols on an eroding active
plate margin: Waipaoa catchment, East Coast North Island, New Zealand”
by Alan Palmer. M.R.G. Sayyed* discussed about “Rare earth element
geochemistry of the interbasalatic bole beds (paleosols) from Deccan
flood basalts”, followed by Irina Kovda, speaking about “Modern and
paleovertisols for the environmetnal paleoreconstructions:
oppurtunities and record potential”. “Geochemical characters of
surface and core sediments from Tejocotal reservoir, Hidalgo state,
Mexico: a study on environmental and climatic factors” was presented
by M.P. Jonathan, whereas “Coastal sand bars and mud dykes of Orissa
and north Andhra: ongoing observations” was dealt with by Deepak
Bhattacharya.
Brigitte Urban and Elizabeth Solleiro-Rebolledo held the following
session, during which Veena U. Joshi spoke about “Textural,
mineralogical and grain surface features of the alluvial sediments
from a riverine badland along the Pravara basin, Maharashtra, India”,
T. Subramani about “Interpretation of rock weathering from
geochemistry of soils in Chithar river basin, southern India”.
Fabio Scarciglia was the convener of the afternoon session: P.D. Roy
presented “Late Quaternary paleoclimate of the Sonora desert, north-
west Mexico: a study based on geochemistry of lacustrine sediments
from Laguna Seca de San Felipe”, Amzad Hussain Laskar showed “14C and
δ13C depth profile for a forest soil from Chhattisgarh, central
India”, Brigitte Urban discussed about “Geochronological work on
coastal sediments in India”, M.G. Yadava dealt with “Grey level
measurements in a stalagmite: a proxy for past solar variability”, G.
Subrahmanyam spoke about “Diversity and activity of microbial
community in the paleosols of Mahi river basin, western India by
polyphasic approach”.
The third day was opened by D. Pal with a lecture on “Significance of
soils and their mineral formation in geomorphic evolutions and
paleopedology”. Alan Palmer was the convener of the following session,
which included the presentation “Paleoclimatic implications of the red
dune sands (Teris) of southern Tamil Nadu, India” by Joseph Sabu,
“Chemistry and pedology process of calcrete development in Vertisols
of Coimbatore area” by Navin Shankar, “Rainfall erosivity in the
Kandhamal plateau of Orissa: a theoretical effort for real time
administrative assessments” by Deepak Bhattacharya, “Point bar
complexes of Chhoti Ganadak river and its implications on
palaeoclimate” by D.S. Singh, “Late Quaternary fine deposits of Jammu
(J & K State), India – Sediment characteristics, weathering and
palaeoclimate” by Vinod Kumar.
The chairperson of the last session was Stefano Carnicelli. The
following contributions were presented: “Micromorphological features
of shrink-swell soils of India. Part I: Clay pedofetures” dealt with
by P. Raja, and “Micromorphological features of shrink-swell soils of
India. Part II: Plasmic fabric and carbonates” by U.K. Maurya. Ludmila
Pesochina spoke obout “The late Holocene soil and climate changes
recorded in paleosoils of the archaeological monuments in the steppe
zone of the Russian plain”, whereas Fabio Scarciglia discussed about
“A chronosequence of Quaternary soils on a flight of coastal river
terraces in Calabria (South Italy) in the framework of paleoclimatic
change and geomorphological evolution”, and finally Hema Achyuthan
illustrated results about “Pedosequence of hardpan calcrete formation:
a stratigraphic marker horizon”.
The indoor third day was devoted to the business meeting, whose
minutes are reported below. In addition, during the last two days of
the workshop, delegates joined field excursions along coastal and
inland areas of south India. The main topics observed and discussed in
the field were pediments, alluvial and coastal plains, tectonics and
seismicity, exhumed spheroidal boulders and weathering profiles
exhibiting typical subspherical, onion-like patterns of alteration on
crystalline rocks, tsunamis-affected coastal sites, tropical laterite
soil profiles and ferricretes, Holocene fluvial depositional
environments and pedogensis.
The intense scientific programme was nicely punctuated by friendly
social and cultural events.
MINUTES OF THE BUSINESS MEETING OF THE PALEOPEDOLOGY COMMISSION,
held in Chennai, India, 14 January 2008
The group of people dealing with Paleopedology have the status of a
Commission in IUSS, within Division 1 (Soil in Space and Time), and in
INQUA, within TERPRO commission (Terrestrial Processes). The
activities of the group include coordination, as the promotion of
international projects,
the support of interdisciplinary events, and dissemination, as
proceedings of the meeting, newsletters, mailing list and web site
(http://groups.google.com/group/Paleopedologyhttp://groups.google.com/
group/Paleopedology).
During the business meeting in Chennai, the President of the
commission, Edoardo A.C. Costantini discussed about the next
appointments. He proposed the journals for the proceedings of the
meeting, “Geomorphology” and “Indian Journal of Geology”. The guest
editors for these proceedings will be Alan Palmer for “Geomorphology”
and Brigitte Urban for “Indian Journal of Geology”.
The president showed the last meetings proceedings about
paleopedology. In fall 2008, a special number of “Journal of Plant
Nutrition and Soil Science”, will collect the papers presented by the
commision members during the WCSS 2006 in Philadelphia. In the last
year, a volume of “Catena” (vol.71) and a volume of “Revista Mexicana
de Ciencias Geológicas” (vol.24) collected the papers presented during
the Paleopedology International Conference in Mexico City, 2005.
The president also presented the next meetings where the members of
the Paleopedology group are going to present their works. The first
ones will be the EGU (European Geoscience Union) General Assembly in
Vienna, from 13rd to 18th April 2008, and Eurosoil 2008, from 25th to
29th August, another time in Vienna.
During the EGU, four sessions will be dedicated to Paleopedology:
“Soils and pedosediments as environmental archivies of the last
130,000 years” (SSS11), “Evolution and properties of stratified
soils” (SSS12), “Regolith and soil micromorphology, mineralogy and
geochemistry” (SSS16) and “Past land surfaces: basic concepts,
paradigm development and new methods in paleopedology” (SSS17). During
Eurosoil 2008, other four sessions of paleopedology will be presented:
“Soils and climate change” (S2), “Memory function of recent and
paleosoils” (S25), “Time scales of pedogenic processes for predicting
soil changes in time” (S29) and “Micromorphological and mineralogical
evidences of soil environmental change” (S30).
In September 2008, some members of the commission will partecipate to
the 13th International Conference on Soil Micromorphology, Chengdu,
China.
In 2009, the Commision is organizing a meeting in Mexico and in 2010
is going to participate at the World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS)
in Brisbane (Australia), 1st - 6th August. The proposed themes for the
WCSS 2010 sessions are: “Impact of aeolian sediments on pedogenic
processes and soil morphology”, “Genesis and functions of soils and
paleosols in karst environments” and “Timescales of soil formation
pedogenic processes”.
During WCSS 2010, the new officers of the Commission will be elected,
the people proposed by the Commission are Daniela Sauer and Sergey
Sedov.
Another important issue of the business meeting was the setting up of
an international project dealing with Paleopedology. A group of
members of paleopedologists has made a proposal for an international
project titled “Paleosol record of environmental changes for
predicting soil sensitivity to climate change (Pacsof)”. Pacsof is a
proposed project aimed at supporting the use of the knowledge achieved
by a group of paleopedologists, about the consequences of past
climatic changes on paleosols, to foresee possible consequence of
present and future climatic changes in present soils. The tools are
the sharing of knowledge in workshops, meetings and field trips, and
the education. The last will comprise the dissemination of materials,
mainly through the web, and the realization of field and laboratory
courses. The financial supports that will be possibly obtained by
International bodies will be used to support member’s participation to
the initiatives and give grants to young researchers and students who
will present their work to the workshops and attend the field and lab
courses. An application was submitted to INQUA.
Paleopedology:
“Palaeosols, Geomorphic Evolution of Landscape and Paleoclimate
Change”,
held in Chennai, India, 10-14 January 2008
Fabio Scarciglia, Simone Priori, Edoardo A.C. Costantini
From the 10th to the 14th of January 2008, the International
Conference & Field Workshop on Paleopedology: “Paleosols, Geomorphic
Evolution of landscape and Paleoclimate Change”, organized by Hema
Achyuthan (Department of Geology, Anna University), took place in
Chennai (Madras), India.
The meeting was inaugurated by Prof. L. Elango (Department of Geology)
and Dr. K. Jayaraman, dean of the Anna University, who addressed the
welcome to the participants, followed by the opening speech of the
President of the Paleopedology Commission, Dr. E.A.C. Costantini, the
release of the Abstract Volume by Prof. A. Bronger (University of
Kiel) and the ceremonial Vote to Thanks handled by Hema Achyuthan. The
hosts greeted the colleagues coming from abroad, who had given the
many Indian young participant an important opportunity of enhancing
the quality of their research through an international comparison and
exchange of opinions. The President of the Paleopedology Commission,
after having introduced the Paleopedology group as a Commission inside
the International Union of Soil Sciences and subcommission of the
International Union for Quaternary Research stressed, among other, the
importance of involving the emerging countries in the activities of
the two Scientific Societies, also by supporting the meetings and
conferences organized in those countries.
The introductory key lecture was carried out by Prof. Arnt Bronger,
about vetusols and relict soils of south India. About forty oral
presentations coupled with a dozen of posters were presented during
the whole meeting, the major part of them by young scientists. The
contributions included a variety of scientific topics, spanning from
the study of paleosols in the framework of geomorphological evolution,
stratigraphy and sedimentology, soil genesis, paleoclimate
reconstruction and climatic change, geochronology, geochemical and
isotopic signature, carbon and microbial dynamics in the earth
ecosystem, soil sustainability, land use and human impact, etc. As a
consequence, also methodological approaches were interestingly
assorted and sometimes very innovative, especially in a number of
multidisciplinary works.
In the first scientific session, chaired by Edoardo Costantini, the
following papers were presented: “A stratigraphical and genetical
revision of classic Appennine fringe palaeosols” by Stefano
Carnicelli, “Late Pleistocene environmental change in a northern
sector of the peninsula de Yucatán, Mexico, based on sedimentological
and paleopedological proxies” by Elizabeth Solleiro-Rebolledo,
“Micromorphological, LA-ICP-MS and radionuclide analyses of two soil
transects in Sardinia, Italy: genetic, morphodynamic and chronological
implications” by Fabio Scarciglia, and “Paleosols as tools for the
detailed reconstruction of alluvial fan architectures” by Rossano
Ciampalini.
Irina Kovda led the second session, during which Stefano Carnicelli
spoke about “A pedostratigraphic marker for the Main Ethiopian Rift
(MER)”, Simone Priori presented “Pedostratigraphic and
geomorphological evidences of Quaternary tectonic activity in a
coastal terraces flight of south-west Sicily (Italy)”, Brigitte Urban
dealt with the “Characterisation of Fluvisols and sedimentation
processes in the Elbe River flood plain, northern Germany, during the
Late Holocene”. M.A Bronnikova presented the paper “Late Holocene
climate-related change of fluvial activity and floodplain pedogenesis
in the upper Dnieper basin (Russian plain)”, Pankaj Srivastava showed
“Micromorphology and clay mineralogy of Late Quaternary loess-
paleosols of Kangra intermontane basin, NW Himalayas: Paleoclimatic
implications”, Chun Chang Huang “Holocene loess-palaeosol derived from
the overbank flood deposit of the Yellow River, China”.
Arnt Bronger was the chairman of the second-day scientific session,
initiated by a lecture on “Tephric paleosols on an eroding active
plate margin: Waipaoa catchment, East Coast North Island, New Zealand”
by Alan Palmer. M.R.G. Sayyed* discussed about “Rare earth element
geochemistry of the interbasalatic bole beds (paleosols) from Deccan
flood basalts”, followed by Irina Kovda, speaking about “Modern and
paleovertisols for the environmetnal paleoreconstructions:
oppurtunities and record potential”. “Geochemical characters of
surface and core sediments from Tejocotal reservoir, Hidalgo state,
Mexico: a study on environmental and climatic factors” was presented
by M.P. Jonathan, whereas “Coastal sand bars and mud dykes of Orissa
and north Andhra: ongoing observations” was dealt with by Deepak
Bhattacharya.
Brigitte Urban and Elizabeth Solleiro-Rebolledo held the following
session, during which Veena U. Joshi spoke about “Textural,
mineralogical and grain surface features of the alluvial sediments
from a riverine badland along the Pravara basin, Maharashtra, India”,
T. Subramani about “Interpretation of rock weathering from
geochemistry of soils in Chithar river basin, southern India”.
Fabio Scarciglia was the convener of the afternoon session: P.D. Roy
presented “Late Quaternary paleoclimate of the Sonora desert, north-
west Mexico: a study based on geochemistry of lacustrine sediments
from Laguna Seca de San Felipe”, Amzad Hussain Laskar showed “14C and
δ13C depth profile for a forest soil from Chhattisgarh, central
India”, Brigitte Urban discussed about “Geochronological work on
coastal sediments in India”, M.G. Yadava dealt with “Grey level
measurements in a stalagmite: a proxy for past solar variability”, G.
Subrahmanyam spoke about “Diversity and activity of microbial
community in the paleosols of Mahi river basin, western India by
polyphasic approach”.
The third day was opened by D. Pal with a lecture on “Significance of
soils and their mineral formation in geomorphic evolutions and
paleopedology”. Alan Palmer was the convener of the following session,
which included the presentation “Paleoclimatic implications of the red
dune sands (Teris) of southern Tamil Nadu, India” by Joseph Sabu,
“Chemistry and pedology process of calcrete development in Vertisols
of Coimbatore area” by Navin Shankar, “Rainfall erosivity in the
Kandhamal plateau of Orissa: a theoretical effort for real time
administrative assessments” by Deepak Bhattacharya, “Point bar
complexes of Chhoti Ganadak river and its implications on
palaeoclimate” by D.S. Singh, “Late Quaternary fine deposits of Jammu
(J & K State), India – Sediment characteristics, weathering and
palaeoclimate” by Vinod Kumar.
The chairperson of the last session was Stefano Carnicelli. The
following contributions were presented: “Micromorphological features
of shrink-swell soils of India. Part I: Clay pedofetures” dealt with
by P. Raja, and “Micromorphological features of shrink-swell soils of
India. Part II: Plasmic fabric and carbonates” by U.K. Maurya. Ludmila
Pesochina spoke obout “The late Holocene soil and climate changes
recorded in paleosoils of the archaeological monuments in the steppe
zone of the Russian plain”, whereas Fabio Scarciglia discussed about
“A chronosequence of Quaternary soils on a flight of coastal river
terraces in Calabria (South Italy) in the framework of paleoclimatic
change and geomorphological evolution”, and finally Hema Achyuthan
illustrated results about “Pedosequence of hardpan calcrete formation:
a stratigraphic marker horizon”.
The indoor third day was devoted to the business meeting, whose
minutes are reported below. In addition, during the last two days of
the workshop, delegates joined field excursions along coastal and
inland areas of south India. The main topics observed and discussed in
the field were pediments, alluvial and coastal plains, tectonics and
seismicity, exhumed spheroidal boulders and weathering profiles
exhibiting typical subspherical, onion-like patterns of alteration on
crystalline rocks, tsunamis-affected coastal sites, tropical laterite
soil profiles and ferricretes, Holocene fluvial depositional
environments and pedogensis.
The intense scientific programme was nicely punctuated by friendly
social and cultural events.
MINUTES OF THE BUSINESS MEETING OF THE PALEOPEDOLOGY COMMISSION,
held in Chennai, India, 14 January 2008
The group of people dealing with Paleopedology have the status of a
Commission in IUSS, within Division 1 (Soil in Space and Time), and in
INQUA, within TERPRO commission (Terrestrial Processes). The
activities of the group include coordination, as the promotion of
international projects,
the support of interdisciplinary events, and dissemination, as
proceedings of the meeting, newsletters, mailing list and web site
(http://groups.google.com/group/Paleopedologyhttp://groups.google.com/
group/Paleopedology).
During the business meeting in Chennai, the President of the
commission, Edoardo A.C. Costantini discussed about the next
appointments. He proposed the journals for the proceedings of the
meeting, “Geomorphology” and “Indian Journal of Geology”. The guest
editors for these proceedings will be Alan Palmer for “Geomorphology”
and Brigitte Urban for “Indian Journal of Geology”.
The president showed the last meetings proceedings about
paleopedology. In fall 2008, a special number of “Journal of Plant
Nutrition and Soil Science”, will collect the papers presented by the
commision members during the WCSS 2006 in Philadelphia. In the last
year, a volume of “Catena” (vol.71) and a volume of “Revista Mexicana
de Ciencias Geológicas” (vol.24) collected the papers presented during
the Paleopedology International Conference in Mexico City, 2005.
The president also presented the next meetings where the members of
the Paleopedology group are going to present their works. The first
ones will be the EGU (European Geoscience Union) General Assembly in
Vienna, from 13rd to 18th April 2008, and Eurosoil 2008, from 25th to
29th August, another time in Vienna.
During the EGU, four sessions will be dedicated to Paleopedology:
“Soils and pedosediments as environmental archivies of the last
130,000 years” (SSS11), “Evolution and properties of stratified
soils” (SSS12), “Regolith and soil micromorphology, mineralogy and
geochemistry” (SSS16) and “Past land surfaces: basic concepts,
paradigm development and new methods in paleopedology” (SSS17). During
Eurosoil 2008, other four sessions of paleopedology will be presented:
“Soils and climate change” (S2), “Memory function of recent and
paleosoils” (S25), “Time scales of pedogenic processes for predicting
soil changes in time” (S29) and “Micromorphological and mineralogical
evidences of soil environmental change” (S30).
In September 2008, some members of the commission will partecipate to
the 13th International Conference on Soil Micromorphology, Chengdu,
China.
In 2009, the Commision is organizing a meeting in Mexico and in 2010
is going to participate at the World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS)
in Brisbane (Australia), 1st - 6th August. The proposed themes for the
WCSS 2010 sessions are: “Impact of aeolian sediments on pedogenic
processes and soil morphology”, “Genesis and functions of soils and
paleosols in karst environments” and “Timescales of soil formation
pedogenic processes”.
During WCSS 2010, the new officers of the Commission will be elected,
the people proposed by the Commission are Daniela Sauer and Sergey
Sedov.
Another important issue of the business meeting was the setting up of
an international project dealing with Paleopedology. A group of
members of paleopedologists has made a proposal for an international
project titled “Paleosol record of environmental changes for
predicting soil sensitivity to climate change (Pacsof)”. Pacsof is a
proposed project aimed at supporting the use of the knowledge achieved
by a group of paleopedologists, about the consequences of past
climatic changes on paleosols, to foresee possible consequence of
present and future climatic changes in present soils. The tools are
the sharing of knowledge in workshops, meetings and field trips, and
the education. The last will comprise the dissemination of materials,
mainly through the web, and the realization of field and laboratory
courses. The financial supports that will be possibly obtained by
International bodies will be used to support member’s participation to
the initiatives and give grants to young researchers and students who
will present their work to the workshops and attend the field and lab
courses. An application was submitted to INQUA.
mer...@skyway.usask.ca
Mar 14, 2008, 7:17:37 PM3/14/08
to Paleop...@googlegroups.com
Dear Alexander
This is an excellent report. I hope you have prepared a one page special report
with a photo or two to be published in the IUSS Bulletin.
Best wishes,
Ahmet
Quoting Alexander Makeev <Make...@gmail.com>:
> sector of the peninsula de Yucat¨¢n, Mexico, based on sedimentological
> ¦Ä13C depth profile for a forest soil from Chhattisgarh, central
> India", Brigitte Urban discussed about "Geochronological work on
> coastal sediments in India", M.G. Yadava dealt with "Grey level
> measurements in a stalagmite: a proxy for past solar variability", G.
> Subrahmanyam spoke about "Diversity and activity of microbial
> community in the paleosols of Mahi river basin, western India by
> polyphasic approach".
>
> The third day was opened by D. Pal with a lecture on "Significance of
> soils and their mineral formation in geomorphic evolutions and
> paleopedology". Alan Palmer was the convener of the following session,
> which included the presentation "Paleoclimatic implications of the red
> dune sands (Teris) of southern Tamil Nadu, India" by Joseph Sabu,
> "Chemistry and pedology process of calcrete development in Vertisols
> of Coimbatore area" by Navin Shankar, "Rainfall erosivity in the
> Kandhamal plateau of Orissa: a theoretical effort for real time
> administrative assessments" by Deepak Bhattacharya, "Point bar
> complexes of Chhoti Ganadak river and its implications on
> palaeoclimate" by D.S. Singh, "Late Quaternary fine deposits of Jammu
> (J & K State), India - Sediment characteristics, weathering and
> de Ciencias Geol¨®gicas" (vol.24) collected the papers presented during
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