Major factors controlling late Pleistocene to Holocene soil development in the Vesuvius area (southern Italy)

Abstract

In this paper the role of time and late Pleistocene to middle Holocene climate changes in the Somma-Vesuvius volcano foothill (southern Italy) is investigated with a multidisciplinary approach. Four volcanic soils inter-layered between five well-known and well-dated primary tephra layers were characterized. Chronological constraints were provided by the pyroclastic layers identified in the field (Pomici di Base, Pomici Verdoline, Agnano Pomici Principali, Mercato and Avellino), ranging between 22 and 3.8 thousand years (ka) before present (BP). These represent products of explosive eruptions of Somma-Vesuvius and the Phlegrean Fields. Another pyroclastic layer (Agnano Monte Spina) from the Phlegrean Fields was also identified, and other ash layers previously unknown in the Somma-Vesuvius stratigraphy. These were characterized with SEM-EDS analyses, and correlated with other eruptions from the Phlegrean Fields (Soccavo 4-5 and Tufi Biancastri) around 12 and 21 ka BP, respectively, thus resulting in further time constraints for phases of soil development. A detailed characterization of the four pedons integrated morphological, physical, chemical, mineralogical and micromorphological analyses. Soil features were interpreted in terms of dominant genetic processes and environmental conditions. The extent of soil development, assessed with pedogenetic indices and the degree of weathering of primary pumices, was only in part consistent with time-spans of soil formation, suggesting a more important role of climate than soil age. The different extents of expression of andic properties, pumice weathering and varying clay mineralogy allowed us to relate changes to the main climatic phases that occurred during the late Pleistocene to the mid Holocene.

Pedological investigation of an early Bronze Age site in southern Italy

“…Indeed, the soils contained no micromorphological evidence of migration of poorly crystallized clay minerals, and the chemistry of the different horizons seems to show that leaching was limited (i.e., no evidence of a pH increase with depth). Likewise, a similar pedostratigraphic sequence in the Somma‐Vesuvius foothills contained no evidence of postburial soil changes (Scarciglia et al ), whereas at Scafati, Vogel et al () emphasized only a change in pH with depth, likely due to Na and Ca leaching. Therefore, we believe that the relationship between the chosen soil properties and environmental conditions at the time of burial can be proposed with caution.…”

“…On the other hand, temperature and precipitation also have a control on the formation of andic properties (Shoji et al, ). OM (calculated from the total organic carbon, TOC) and Al o + 0.5Fe o index, associated with other soil indices, have already been used to evaluate the degree of soil development in the Sarno Plain (Vogel et al, ) and around Vesuvius (Scarciglia et al, ). Therefore, the ranking of soil fertility for the studied soils was defined as follows: very high (fertility index > 21) for NE at Via V. Palma S. Gennaro, and S. Paolo Belsito, and in P2 of the EBA paleosurface; high (fertility index = 19 and 20) for ME and ML2 and for s1 and P1 of the EBA paleosurface; moderate (fertility index = 17 and 18) for EM1 , EM2 , ML1 , NE , EB , and s2 of the EBA paleosurface; low (fertility index = 15 and 16) for LM1 , LR1 , LR2 , ML3 , ML4 , ML5 ; and very low (fertility index < 14) LM2 .…”

“…() and Blakemore, Searle, and Daly (). The Al o +0.5Fe o index was used as a proxy for vitric and andic properties (IUSS Working Group WRB, ; Scarciglia et al, ; Vogel et al, ). Indeed Al o , Fe o , and Si o represent the active, short‐range order (i.e., allophane, imogolite, ferrihydrite) or amorphous (Al–humus complexes and opaline silica) Al, Fe, and Si compounds in soils (Blakemore et al., ).…”

Soils and palaeosols as archives of natural and anthropogenic environmental changes

“…Scarciglia et al () investigated the role of time on the one hand and climatic changes on the other, in Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene palaeosols in the Somma‐Vesuvius volcano foothill area (southern Italy). The authors studied a sequence of palaeosols embedded between tephra layers, ranging from 22 to 3.8 ka BP in age, providing a detailed chronostratigraphic framework.…”

“…This Special Section comprises a selection of papers showing new and original results in different types of palaeopedological archives, including recent palaeo‐environmental reconstructions carried out in southern (Scarciglia et al , ; Zucca et al , ) and eastern Europe (Łanczont et al , ) and Mexico (Cruz‐y‐Cruz et al , ), as well as novel research on soils developed in urban, industrial and mining materials (Huot et al , ; Jangorzo et al , ).…”