Contrasting environmental memories in relict soils on different parent rocks in the south-western Italian Alps

D’Amico, Michele; Catoni, Marcella; Terribile, Fabio; Zanini, Ermanno; Bonifacio, Eleonora

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.061

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…In addition, the obtained values were compared with the modified PDI calculated on some soil profiles close to the study area, developed on surfaces not showing any Pleistocene periglacial features (Catoni et al, 2016) and with paleosols on flat relict surfaces (D'Amico et al, 2016).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A precise chronology of the geomorphic events leading to the formation of the relict surfaces is missing, but in other portions of the Ligurian Alps, some 50 km east from our study area, remnants of analogous relict surfaces perched some hundreds of meters above the valley floors were considered fragments of Pliocene alluvial terraces (Rellini et al, 2014). Polygenetic soils on some relict surfaces showing weaker periglacial morphologies were characterized by repeated cycles of strong pedogenesis, sometimes with evidences of subtropical climates, and cryoturbation (D'Amico et al, 2016).…”

Section: Regional Setting and Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The abundance of silt might have been produced by frost shattering and clast abrasion as well (Etzelmüller and Sollid, 1991;Van Vliet-Lanoë, 1998). Moreover, even if no loess has been detected in other relict surfaces with ancient soils (D'Amico et al, 2016), small additions of aeolian materials cannot be excluded. In fact, the development of patterned ground features requires a high heterogeneity of particle size distribution and abundant fines (Van Vliet-Lanoë, 1998).…”

Section: Pedogenic Processes In Periglacial Conditions and Warm Interglacialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pleistocene periglacial imprinting on polygenetic soils and paleosols in the SW Italian Alps

D’Amico

Pintaldi

Catoni

et al. 2019

CATENA

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Because of extensive Pleistocenic glaciations, which erased most of the previously existing soils, slope steepness and climatic conditions favoring soil erosion, most soils observed in the Alps (and in other mid-latitude mountain ranges) have developed during the Holocene or Late Glacial period.However, in few sites, particularly in the outermost sections of the Alpine range, Pleistocene glaciers covered only small and scattered surfaces, and ancient soils could be preserved for long periods on stable surfaces. In many cases, these soils retain good memories of Quaternary periglacial activity, which have never been characterized on the Alpine range. Based on both geomorphological and pedological interpretations, this work aims to investigate these environments, providing, therefore, new evidences to support paleoclimate reconstructions on the Alps.We described and sampled soils on stable surfaces in the Upper Tanaro valley, Ligurian Alps (Southwestern Piemonte, Italy). The sampling sites were between 600 to 1600 m a.s.l., under present day lower montane Ostrya carpinifolia, montane Fagus sylvatica forests or montane heath/grazed grassland, on quartz-rich substrata.The surface morphology often showed strongly developed fossil periglacial morphologies such as large-scale patterned ground, blockfields/blockstreams or solifluction sheets.The soils preserved in such Quaternary periglacial landforms normally showed stratification of different layers (units), separated by structural discontinuities, evidencing different depositional settings and different pedogenic development degree. A strong cryogenic granulometric sorting characterized all the observed soils/paleosols, with silt-enriched horizons and lateral differentiation of sand-and stone-rich parts and fine enriched ones; organic matter was irregularly distributed at depth as a result of past cryoturbation. Compact and dense layers with strong platy/lenticular structural aggregation, wedge casts and large-scale cryoturbations were described below fixed depths in all soil profiles. Thus, surface morphology and soil properties suggest the presence of permafrost during cold Pleistocene phases, with two main active layer thicknesses at 60-120 and 100-160 cm depths respectively.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Regional Setting and Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Pedogenic Processes In Periglacial Conditions and Warm Interglacialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pleistocene periglacial imprinting on polygenetic soils and paleosols in the SW Italian Alps

D’Amico

Pintaldi

Catoni

et al. 2019

CATENA

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“…exposure, relief forms, and gradients; Egli et al, 2010;Holtmeier and Broll, 2018;Masseroli et al, 2020), thus influencing the soil response to climate change. Despite there are no treeline-specific soil types in the temperate mountains (Holtmeier and Broll, 2018), the study of soil properties and characteristics proved to be a useful tool for the investigation and reconstruction of the response of sensitive environments to the past and ongoing climate changes (D'Amico et al, 2016(D'Amico et al, , 2019, as they are the results of the interactions between different environmental factors (i.e. climate, organic activities, relief, parent material, and time; Jenny, 1941).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An integrated approach for tracking climate-driven changes in treeline environments on different time scales in the Valle d’Aosta, Italian Alps

Masseroli

Leonelli

Cella³

et al. 2021

The Holocene

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Both biotic and abiotic components, characterizing the mountain treeline ecotone, respond differently to climate variations. This study aims at reconstructing climate-driven changes by analyzing soil evolution in the late Holocene and by assessing the climatic trends for the last centuries and years in a key high-altitude climatic treeline (2515 m a.s.l.) on the SW slope of the Becca di Viou mountain (Aosta Valley Region, Italy). This approach is based on soil science and dendrochronological techniques, together with daily air/soil temperature monitoring of four recent growing seasons. Direct measurements show that the ongoing soil temperatures during the growing season, at the treeline and above, are higher than the predicted reference values for the Alpine treeline. Thus, they do not represent a limiting factor for tree establishment and growth, including at the highest altitudes of the potential treeline (2625 m a.s.l.). Dendrochronological evidences show a marked sensitivity of tree-ring growth to early-summer temperatures. During the recent 10-year period 2006–2015, trees at around 2300 m a.s.l. have grown at a rate that is approximately 1.9 times higher than during the 10-year period 1810–1819, one of the coolest periods of the Little Ice Age. On the other hand, soils show only an incipient response to the ongoing climate warming, likely because of its resilience regarding the changeable environmental conditions and the different factors influencing the soil development. The rising air temperature, and the consequent treeline upward shift, could be the cause of a shift from Regosol to soil with more marked Umbric characteristics, but only for soil profiles located on the N facing slopes. Overall, the results of this integrated approach permitted a quantification of the different responses in abiotic and biotic components through time, emphasizing the influence of local station conditions in responding to the past and ongoing climate change.

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“…When they are not cultivated with rice or other crops, they host the remnants of the native forests that once covered the Po plain. Fragipans CONTACT E. Raimondo elisa.raimondo@unito.it DISAFA, University of Torino, Largo P. Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco, TO, Italy and/or fragic properties also occur in Apennine Paleosols (Costantini et al 1996;D'Amico et al 2016) and discontinuously in some forest Inceptisols of Central Italy (Certini et al 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of fragipan B horizons developed on different parent material in North-Western Italy

Raimondo

Falsone

D’Amico

et al. 2018

Archives of Agronomy and Soil Science

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A Fragipan (Bx) is a soil horizon hard when dry and brittle when moist, that undergoes slaking upon water immersion, forming a barrier to roots and limiting land use. Brittleness and slaking depend on soil porosity and particle arrangement, but still no agreement exists on the inorganic components responsible for such arrangement. We hypothesized that the same kind of particle arrangement may originate from different soil components, ultimately depending on the lithology of parent material, and evaluated the soil and clay characteristics that best differentiate Bx from B horizons. Thirty-six samples were taken from Typic Fragiudalfs developed on the two sides of an alluvial fan characterized by different amounts of ultramafic materials. Discriminant Analysis evidenced that pedogenic Fe oxides were fundamental in discriminating Bx from B horizons on pure ultramafic parent material, while clay mineralogy was more important in soils with less ultramafic materials. In the first case, the association between clay minerals and self-assembling oxides systems may lead to brittleness, while in the second case the higher abundance of kaolinite may contribute to weak associations between pH-dependent sites and negatively charged surfaces. The only common feature to fragipans on both river sides was a higher degree of weathering.

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Contrasting environmental memories in relict soils on different parent rocks in the south-western Italian Alps

Cited by 17 publications

References 47 publications

Pleistocene periglacial imprinting on polygenetic soils and paleosols in the SW Italian Alps

Pleistocene periglacial imprinting on polygenetic soils and paleosols in the SW Italian Alps

An integrated approach for tracking climate-driven changes in treeline environments on different time scales in the Valle d’Aosta, Italian Alps

Characteristics of fragipan B horizons developed on different parent material in North-Western Italy

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