RATES OF SOIL FORMATION ON BLACK MESA, NORTHEAST ARIZONA: A CHRONOSEQUENCE IN LATE QUATERNARY ALLUVIUM

Abstract

A chronosequence of 17 soils in late Quaternary alluvium on Black Mesa, northeast Arizona, permits quantification of rates of pedogenesis in a semi-arid region. Based on 24 tree-ring, radiocarbon, and archaeological dates, soil ages range from about 100 to 20,000 to 30,000+ years. Data indicate that ochric, cambic, argillic, natric, and calcic horizons form within about 100, 500, 1000, 3000, and 15,000 years, respectively, whereas mollic epipedons form within 1000 years. Bk horizons with Stage I, I+, II+, and III carbonate morphologies form within about 1000, 4000, 10,000, and 15,000 years, respectively. Thickness of Bt and Bk horizons, and Harden profile development and clay accumulation index values increase in a linear manner with increasing soil age. High resolution dating suggests rates of pedogenesis on Black Mesa are rapid relative to those documented elsewhere in the southwest United States and in the Rocky Mountains. Rates of soil formation recorded on Black Mesa, however, necessarily incorporate the combined effects of slight variations in elevation, climate, vegetation, topography, and parent materials throughout the region, as well as the influence of additions of atmospheric dust at the soil surface. [Key words: soil, pedogenesis, soil geomorphology, Quaternary, Arizona.]