14C dating of buried soils in the volcanic chaine des puys (France)

Apparent ages of the paleosoils buried under ash deposits or lava flows cannot be used without a correct understanding of the soil type buried by the volcanic event. Considering the apparent ages measured in the French «Massif Central» we can accept the rejuvenation of 500 years generally used if mollisols (sol bruns) are concerned. The rejuvenation can reach 4,000 years or more in the case of buried andosoils whose mean residence time of carbon is generally of 2,000 to 6,000 years. These observations have to be taken into account in the future to establish more accurate chronosequences of the volcanic events using paleosoil¹⁴C datations.