Palaeoweathering, Palaeosurfaces and Related Continental Deposits: (v.27 International Association of Sedimentologists (Special Publications) S.)

The study of palaeoweathering provides vital clues about past continental environments, the correlation of sedimentary deposits and about processes such as the rate and timing of uplift and erosion. This Volume (based partly on research presented at IGCP 317 Palaeoweathering Records and Palaeosurfaces) contains contributions that use both geochemical and physical approaches to the study of palaeoweathering problems. The former are particularly relevant t our understanding of past climates and climate change; the latter have applications in the understanding of mass balance between rates of erosion and deposition. Palaeoweathering, Palaeosurfaces and Related Continental Deposits illustrates the multidisciplinary nature of the subject, the diversity of techniques and, above all, the vital contribution the subject makes to the reconstruction of ancient continental environments. This book will be of great value to sedimentologists, soil scientists and geomorphologists.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Problems, progress and future research concerning palaeoweatherings and palaeosurfaces Geochemistry and isotopes Weathering, rainwater, and atmosphere chemistry: example and modelling of granite weathering, in present conditions, in a CO2-rich, and in an anoxic palaeoatmosphere Stable carbon isotopes in palaeosol carbonates Palaeoenvironment, palaeoclimate and stable carbon isotopes of Palaezoic red bed palaeosols, Appalachian Basin, USA and Canada Peculiar palaeoweathering types Diversity of the continental silicifications: Examples from the Cainozoic deposits in the Paris Basin and neighbouring basement Authigenic clay minerals in continental evaporitic environments Saprolite-bauxite facies of ferralitic duricrusts on palaeosurfaces of former Pangea Karst bauxites: interfingering of deposition and palaeoweathering Precambrian palaeosols: a view from the Canadian shield Regional palaeosurface and palaseoweathering reconstructions Palaeolandscape reconstruction of the Southwestern Massif Central (France) Lateritization, geomorphology, and geodynamics of a passive continental margin: The Konkan and Kanara coastal lowlands of western peninsular India Relief features and palaeoweathering remnants in formerly glaciated Scandinavian basement areas Palaeosol sequences in floodplain environments: a hierarchical approach Carbonate-rich palaesols in the upper Cretaceous/Lower Palaegene series of the Provence basin (France) Sedimentary infillings and development of major Tertiary palaeodrainages of south-central Australia Weathering surfaces, laterite-derived sediments, and associated mineral deposits in NE-Africa