Fingerprinting of soil organic matter as a proxy for assessing climate and vegetation changes in last interglacial palaeosols (Veldwezelt, Belgium) |
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Authors: | Karen Vancampenhout Katinka Wouters Peter Buurman Jozef Deckers |
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Affiliation: | a Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, K.U. Leuven. Celestijnenlaan 200E, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium b Earth System Science, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, NL 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | Soil characteristics in palaeosols are an important source of information on past climate and vegetation. Fingerprinting of soil organic matter (SOM) by pyrolysis-GC/MS is assessed as a proxy for palaeo-reconstruction in the complex of humic layers on top of the Rocourt pedosequence in the Veldwezelt-Hezerwater outcrop (Belgian loess belt). The fingerprints of the extractable SOM of different soil units are related to total organic carbon content, δ13C and grain-size analysis. Combined results indicate that the lower unit of the humic complex reflects a stable soil surface, allowing SOM build-up, intensive microbial activity and high decomposition. Higher in the profile, decomposition and microbial activity decrease. This is supported by a shift in the isotopic signal, an increased U ratio and evidence of wildfires. Although the chemical composition of the extracted SOM differed greatly from recent SOM, fingerprinting yielded detailed new information on SOM degree of decomposition and microbial contribution, allowing the reconstruction of palaeo-environmental conditions during pedogenesis. |
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Keywords: | Humic fingerprint Pyrolysis-GC/MS Organic geochemistry δ13C Grain-size analysis Rocourt Palaeopedology Loess |
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