Characteristics and genesis of pisolitic soil layers in a tropical moist semi-deciduous forest of Ghana

Breuning‐Madsen, Henrik; Awadzi, Theodore W.; Koch, Christian; Borggaard, Ole K.

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2007.05.009

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The soil physical and chemical properties correspond to what previous authors have found in studies of savannah termites (Lobry de Bruyn and Conacher, 1990) and similar to what some of the architects behind the conceptual model found (Nye, 1955;Awadzi et al, 2004;Breuning-Madsen et al, 2007). The topsoil is gravel free, as is the termite mound itself, despite the presence of considerable amounts of gravel in the soil below (Kristensen, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

“…We cannot unambiguously identify the dominant sediment source, which gives rise to the mound characteristics (and at least in principle there may not be such a source). Thus, we cannot ultimately decide between the two possible reasons for the pattern in 226 Ra/ 232 Th and it may be a combination, which corresponds to the conclusion of Awadzi et al (2004) and Breuning-Madsen et al (2007) made on similar soil physical and chemical datasets in their studies of forest termites in Ghana. However, one should be careful when comparing different termite groups as they modify the soil profile differently.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Below 140 cm (unit IV) less than 50 % of the natural sensitivity corrected signals intersect the dose response curves, so this unit is clearly OSL saturated, as suggested by the large aliquot data. Single-grain ages are shown in Figure 5; these were calculated by applying the following statistical models to the dose distributions: (i) the average weighted doses (CAM UL ), (ii) the minimum doses using a minimum age model (IEU, Thomsen et al, 2003;2007) and (iii) finite mixture doses using the Finite Mixture Model (FMM, Galbraith and Green, 1990). The IEU model was run with a relative OD of 30%.…”

Section: Age Development With Depthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…B) The age distributions in the upper 140 cm for both MG (circles) and SG (diamonds, squares and triangles) data. IEU (diamonds) is the single-grain minimum ages calculated using the IEU model (Thomsen et al 2003;2007), FMM (squares) is the Finite Mixture Model (Galbraith and Green, 1990) single-grain ages calculated using and OD of 20% (see text for details) and CAM (triangles) are the Central Age Model (Galbraith et al, 1999) single-grain ages. Note the relatively young IEU ages in the 100-140 cm interval (unit III) indicating downward mixing of young surface grains.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantification of termite bioturbation in a savannah ecosystem: Application of OSL dating

Kristensen

Thomsen

Murray

et al. 2015

Quaternary Geochronology

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Luminescence dating is one of the most promising techniques available for studying bioturbation on pedological timescales. In this study, we use multi-grain and single-grain quartz OSL to quantify termite bioturbation processes (Macrotermes natalensis) in a savannah ecosystem in Ghana. Termites transport soil from depth to the surface to construct termitaria. Over time, erosion levels these mounds and returns the sediment to the soil surface. These two processes of construction and erosion together represent an upward "conveyor belt" sediment transport process. We find that the sediment is effectively bleached during the erosion process allowing us to quantify retrospectively, for the first time, the surface deposition rate, the inverse of the upwards transport rate. At this site, this is ~0.28 mm year -1 and began about 4.000 years ago.Downward mixing through subsurface galleries may replace 10-20 % of the volume ka -1 below the unit formed by reburied termite deposits.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Age Development With Depthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantification of termite bioturbation in a savannah ecosystem: Application of OSL dating

Kristensen

Thomsen

Murray

et al. 2015

Quaternary Geochronology

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“…The landscape is gently rolling, and soils on these slopes form the most common catena [53] in the tropical MSDF zone of Ghana. The catena is about 500 -600 metres long with an average slope gradient of about 5% -10%.…”

Section: Geomorphology and Soilsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of Soil Variability along a Toposequence in the Tropical Moist Semi-Deciduous Forest of Ghana

Awoonor¹,

Dogbey²

2021

OJSS

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Understanding the variability of physico-chemical properties of soil along a toposequence is essential for smallholder farming communities. However, these resource constraint farmers in Ghana's Moist Semi-Deciduous Forest (MSDF) zone poorly understand how slope positions affect soil properties. Therefore, soil variability assessment along a toposequence was carried out on Bekwai-Nzima/Oda compound association. From the summit to valley bottom slope positions, soil samples were taken at two depths (0 -20 and 20 -50 cm). As shown by the coefficient of variation, topsoil (0 -20 cm) had the highest variation compared to the subsoil (20 -50 cm). The variations observed in most soil attributes (clay, silt, pH, CEC, SOC and TN) for the 0 to 20 and 20 to 50 cm depths were between eroded (summit and upper slopes) and depositional (lower slope and valley bottom) zones. The highly variable soil attributes were silt, TN, Av. P, and Av. K. However, bulk density and sand were the least variable irrespective of soil depth or toposequence. Pearson correlation analysis indicated a significant correlation (p < 0.05) between most soil attributes at the 0 -20 and 20 -50 cm depths at different slope positions. Principal component (PC) analysis indicated that the first four PCs explained more than 80% and 70% of the total variation for the 0 -20 and 20 -50 cm soil depths, respectively. Statistically, our results revealed a significant effect of slope position on soil properties (p < 0.05) and topography influenced soil characteristics and development. Soil pH, sand, silt and clay contents were less affected by slope gradient, which confirms the inherent nature of these highly weathered tropical soils. The findings of this study can serve as a reference for the formulation of soil management strategies for smallholder farm communities.

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12.19 Effects of Ants and Termites on Soil and Geomorphological Processes

Whitford

Eldridge

2013

Treatise on Geomorphology

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Characteristics and genesis of pisolitic soil layers in a tropical moist semi-deciduous forest of Ghana

Cited by 11 publications

References 26 publications

Quantification of termite bioturbation in a savannah ecosystem: Application of OSL dating

Quantification of termite bioturbation in a savannah ecosystem: Application of OSL dating

An Assessment of Soil Variability along a Toposequence in the Tropical Moist Semi-Deciduous Forest of Ghana

12.19 Effects of Ants and Termites on Soil and Geomorphological Processes

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