Table of Contents

1. Micromorphology as a tool in soil and regolith studies 2. Collovial And Mass Wasting Deposits 3. Saprolites 4. Pedoplasmation: formation of soil material 5. Fabric and composition of the groundmass 6. Pedogenic siliceous features 7. Biogenic siliceous features 8. Authigenic silicate minerals – sepiolite-palygorskite, zeolites and sodium silicates 9. Calcium carbonate features 10. Gypsic features 11. Salt minerals in saline soils and salt crusts 12. Phosphatic features 13. Sulphidic and sulphuric materials 14. Textural pedofeatures and related horizons 15. Redoximorphic features 16. Features related to faunal activity 17. Organic matter 18. Topsoils 19. Physical and biological surface crusts 20. Frost action 21. Vertic features 22. Spodic materials 23. Oxic and related materials 24. Lateritic and bauxitic materials 25. Regoliths and soils on volcanic ash 26. Anthropogenic features 27. Archaeological materials 28. Palaeosoils and relict soils, a conceptual approach 29. Palaeosoils and relict soils, a systematic review 30. Micromorphological Features and their relation to processes and clarification

Promotional Information

An updated edition of this seminal reference covering state-of-the-art research in the field of genetic interpretation of micromorphological features

About the Author

Georges Stoops contributed substantially to the understanding of the genesis of arid and tropical soils, and to the development of concepts and terminology for the description of soil thin sections. His outstanding research activities in an international context, contributed considerably to the development of soil micromorphology, while his enthusiastic teaching in Ghent and elsewhere promoted the use of soil micromorphology worldwide. His achievements have been honoured for instance by the Kubiëna Medal of the International Soil Science Society (1992) and the Philippe Duchaufour Medal of the European Geosciences Union (2010).. Dr. Marcelino has many years of research experience in soil micromorphology, especially in the field of tropical soil development, and was guest lecturer at several Intensive Training Courses on Micromorphology organised in various European countries. Dr. Mees has many years of research experience in sediment petrology, soil mineralogy and micromorphology, applied to sediments and soils in arid and semi-arid environments, and later mainly in humid tropical environments, especially in Central Africa.