The role of pedogenesis in palaeosols of Mexico basin and its implication in the paleoenvironmental reconstruction

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Legacies of The Basin of Mexico: The Ecological Processes in the Evolution of a Civilization, Part 1" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Most of the paleoenvironmental information for the Basin of Mexico for the basin comes from sedimentary proxies, which unfortunately are incomplete for the terminal Pleistocene and the Holocene. In this paper, we present a temporal and spatial reconstruction of past soil cover in the south and north of the Basin of Mexico, during the MIS 2 and 1 (Marine Isotope Stage 2 and 1). Palaesol profiles were selected from three locations (Cuicuilco, Copilco, and Avon) in the south basin, and compared with soils studied in the Teotihuacan valley, Pachuca, and Texcoco at north of the basin. The results show that the Pleistocene soil cover is more homogeneous, dominated by the presence of Luvisol type soils with secondary carbonates, dated to around 20000 cal yr BP. During the Holocene, the soil distribution changes, with Andosols developing in the south while Vertisols and Calcisols form in the north. The new soil distribution reflects differing climate conditions during the Holocene, conditions which characterize the basin today. The Andosol cover in south basin although represents the result of short term pedogenesis, are considered high quality soils and attractors for the settlement of sedentary villages.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Legacies of The Basin of Mexico: The Ecological Processes in the Evolution of a Civilization, Part 1   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25308