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Fingerprinting of soil organic matter as a proxy for assessing climate and vegetation changes in last interglacial palaeosols (Veldwezelt, Belgium)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Karen Vancampenhout ,
Katinka Wouters ,
Alexander Caus ,
Peter Buurman ,
Rudy Swennen  and
Jozef Deckers
Karen Vancampenhout*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, K.U. Leuven. Celestijnenlaan 200E, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Katinka Wouters
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, K.U. Leuven. Celestijnenlaan 200E, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Alexander Caus*
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, K.U. Leuven. Celestijnenlaan 200E, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Peter Buurman
Affiliation:
Earth System Science, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, NL 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
Rudy Swennen
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, K.U. Leuven. Celestijnenlaan 200E, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
Jozef Deckers
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, K.U. Leuven. Celestijnenlaan 200E, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
*
*Corresponding author. K.U. Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Division Soil and Water Management, Celestijnenlaan 200E, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium. Fax: +32 0032 16 32 97 60.E-mail address:Karen.vancampenhout@biw.kuleuven.be (K. Vancampenhout).
*Corresponding author. K.U. Leuven, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Division Soil and Water Management, Celestijnenlaan 200E, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium. Fax: +32 0032 16 32 97 60.E-mail address:Karen.vancampenhout@biw.kuleuven.be (K. Vancampenhout).
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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 increasedUratio 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.

Keywords

Humic fingerprintPyrolysis-GC/MSOrganic geochemistryδ13CGrain-size analysisRocourtPalaeopedologyLoess
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 69 , Issue 1 , January 2008 , pp. 145 - 162
Copyright
Elsevier Inc.

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Footnotes

† Deceased.

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