Formation of sandy anthropogenic soils in NW Europe: identification of inputs based on particle size distribution

Dynamics of Celtic fields—A geoarchaeological investigation of Øster Lem Hede, Western Jutland, Denmark

“…For instance, wetland or heathland material could have been used as building material or as animal bedding in the stables and subsequently spread on the fields, possibly mixed with animal manure as it was done in western Jutland and many other places in Europe in historic times (Gormsen, ). As the soils at Øster Lem Hede are not thickened as actual plaggen soils (e.g., Blume, ) or show marked variations in the grain size up through the soil profiles (Dercon et al., ), it must primarily have been the organic material that was added. Alternatively, the pollen from heathland plants could derive from material deposited in the banks.…”

“…show marked variations in the grain size up through the soil profiles (Dercon et al, 2005), it must primarily have been the organic material that was added. Alternatively, the pollen from heathland plants could derive from material deposited in the banks.…”

Long-term landscape – land use interactions as explaining factor for soil organic matter variability in Dutch agricultural landscapes

“…The traditional heathland farming in the study area resulted in accumulation of SOM on the cover sand ridge by manuring, but caused depletion of nutrients in heathlands north and south in the study area by sod cutting (Webb, 1998). Additionally, the plaggen manure is assumed to contain relatively inert SOM (Springob et al, 2001;Springob and Kirchmann, 2002;Heumann et al, 2003;Dercon et al, 2005). SOM in ancient arable lands therefore decomposes slower than would be expected in arable land.…”

The legacy of past urban waste disposal on local soils

“…Plaggen soils are the best known example (Plagganthrepts in the US Soil Taxonomy); the name Plaggen (from the German words Plagge, meaning sod, and plaggen, to cut sods) has been applied to soils with thick dark surface horizons produced by the traditional practice of bedding livestock on heather sods, turves or forest litter and later spreading the manure so formed onto arable land. Plaggen soils occur extensively in north west Europe, extending from north east France to Germany and Denmark [3,11,23] as well as in remote northern localities such as Orkney and Shetland [8,9,27]. Recent research by Giani et al [15] demonstrates their occurrence in more eastern and northern localities, for example, in the vicinity of St. Petersburg.…”