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A ‘reg’ palaeosol from the Lower Triassic of south Devon: stratigraphic and palaeoclimatic implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

V. P. Wright
Affiliation:
Postgraduate Research Institute for Sedimentology, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 2AB, U.K.
S. B. Marriott
Affiliation:
Postgraduate Research Institute for Sedimentology, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 2AB, U.K.
S. D. Vanstone
Affiliation:
Postgraduate Research Institute for Sedimentology, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 2AB, U.K.

Abstract

A ‘reg’-type palaeosol occurs at the top of the Lower Triassic Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds at Budleigh Salterton, south Devon. Its morphology supports the idea that such soils form by the introduction of wind blown fines below a surface stone layer by a process of wetting–drying and crack formation. The degree of profile development indicates a prolonged period of pedogenesis, corresponding to a major stratigraphic break. The palaeosol formed under arid conditions, and represents a change in climate during Scythian times from a semi-arid to arid regime.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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