1. South-central Section GSA 2013 Austin
Multi-Proxy Approaches to Interpreting Climate and Soil Duration in the Deep-Time Geologic Record Using Vertisols
Steven G. Driese*, Lee C. Nordt, Amos V. Culbertson, Emily J. Beverly, Gary E. Stinchcomb, & Forrest Williamson (STATS)
Department of Geology, Paleoclimatology Research Group
One Bear Place #97354, Baylor University
Waco, TX ;
South-central Section GSA 2013 Austin

2. Studies of Surface Soil and Weathering Systems as Proxy Analogs for Paleosols
Have lead to major improvements for geoscientists in interpreting climate from the fossil soil (paleosol) record using studies of surface soil systems
(a) Paleoprecipitation (MAP)
(b) Seasonality of paleoprecipitation
(c) Paleotemperature
(d) Soil drainage and maturitycharacteristics

3. Jenny’s (1941) Environmental Factor Model
(climate, organisms, relief, parent material, and time)
INPUT (cl, o, r, p, t,…)
Function (f)
OUTPUT f(cl, o, r, p, t,…)
equals Soil (S) or soil property (s)
Soils are a multi-variable system
…also, climate influence on soil system is non-linear
Demonstrated by Jenny (1941) and many others

4. Vertisols: High Shrink-Swell, High Clay-Content Soils; Abundant in Texas Coast Prairie
Texas Vertisol “Climosequence”: NSF EAR (Driese, Nordt and Mora); University of Tennessee- Knoxville, Baylor, TAMU, USDA-NRCS

5. Parent Material: Beaumont Fm
Parent Material: Beaumont Fm. (>35-40 ka) alluvium: Texas Coast Prairie
League Series: MAP mm
Lake Charles: MAP mm
Laewest Series: MAP mm
Victoria Series: MAP mm

6. New Vertisol MAP Proxy
Nordt and Driese (2010) Geology, v. 38, p

7. Lake Brownwood Spillway, TX
Culbertson (2013) M.S. Thesis, Baylor University

8. Culbertson, (2013) Baylor Univ. M.S. Thesis

9. Upper Paleosol Interval
Bssg1
Pedogenic siderite
Bssg2
Culbertson(2013) Baylor Univ. M.S. Thesis

10. Lower Paleosol Interval
Abrupt, rapid drowning
Culbertson(2013) Baylor Univ. M.S. Thesis

11. Upper Paleosol Interval
Culbertson(2013) Baylor Univ. M.S. Thesis
Slow, gradual drowning

12. Paleosol Paleoclimate
Database workflow
PRISM
(MAP & MAT)
NED
(elevation)
(Gary Stinchcomb, former Baylor GEO post-doc Penn. State) + Forrest Williamson from Baylor STATS)
NRCS/USDA
(soils)
NLCD
(land cover)
Paleosol Paleoclimate
Model (BU-PPM v. 1.0)
Database aggregation
& management
Paleosol literature
time period
morphology
geochemistry, etc…
researcher

13. New Paleoclimate Proxy – BU-PPM 1.0
Stinchcomb et al. (2013) Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, in review
Based on 685 U.S. Soil Profiles and Partial Least Squares Regression of 11 Major Oxides

14. New Paleoclimate Proxy – BU-PPM 1.0
Stinchcomb et al. (2013) Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, in review
Based on 685 U.S. Soil Profiles and Partial Least Squares Regression of 11 Major Oxides

15. BU-PPM1. 0 results: Baylor enlarged U. S. data set vs
BU-PPM1.0 results: Baylor enlarged U.S. data set vs. original Marbut (1935) soil data base used for CIA-K
Stinchcomb et al. (2013) Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, in review
Model
RMSEMAP
RMSEMAT
RMSPEMAP
RMSPEMAT
BU-PPM1.0
228
2.46
512
3.98
CIA-K
195 -
391
(Na2O+K2O)/Al2O3
3.63
6.32

16. BU-PPM1BU-PPM 1.0.0 website – graphical interface

17. Brownwood – Paleotemperatures?
Lower Paleosol Interval
Upper Paleosol Interval

18. Young Soil vs. Dry Soil? Mass-Balance Results for TX Vertisols
Soil Age (yr) MAP (mm)
Ships
Pledger
Burleson
Lake
Charles
Mercedes
Older South Texas soil (Mercedes) in lower MAP resembles younger East Texas soil (Ships) in higher MAP