Loess buried paleosols geosols welded paleosols pedocomplexes towards a global quaternary pedostratigraphy and paleoclimatic history

<正> Micromorphological studies show that a comparision of the loess-paleosol sequence ofthe Karamaydan section, Central Asia, with the upper part of the Luochuan section, China, clearlyindicates that for the Brunhes chron the sequence at Karamaydan is even more detailed than thecorresponding section at Luochuan. Single paleosols at Luochuan correspond to pedocomplexes atKaramaydan; some pedocomplexes at Luochuan are represented by more detailed successions atKaramaydan (fig. 1). The loess-paleosol sequence at Karamaydan should therefore be regarded asa key sequence for reconstructing the climatic history of the Brunhes epoch. Correlation with thedeep-sea oxygen isotope record of Bassinot et al. (1994), which includes an accurate astronomicaltime scale, allows a detailed chronostratigraphical subdivision of the loess-paleosol sequence inKaramaydan for the Brunhes chron. Mineralogical and clay mineralogical investigations show thatthere is little difference in the type and amount of pedogenic clay mineral formation between twoHolocene soils and the paleosols in the Brunhes chron at Karamaydan. These results indicate thatthe climates of the interglacials represented by the B or Bt horizons of the buried paleosols weresimilar to that of the Holocene. In view of these results the Paleopedology Commission shoulddevelop a uniform terminology of mono- and polygenetic paleosols and pedostratigraphic unitswhich can be used globally.