Preserved organic matter and miospores in buried Middle Devonian ( Givetian) paleosols: Indicators of weathering, oxidation and maturity

Preserved organic matter and miospores from buried Middle Devonian (Givetian), cumulate, hydromorphic, floodplain paleosols in a fluvio-deltaic setting reflect the intensity of pedogenic processes as indicated by pedologic evidence. Amorphous organic material, fungal clusters, cuticle and miospores were examined in the paleosols and compared with organic matter in unweathered parent material. The paleosols include Protosols, Gleysols and a Calcisol and range from mature to immature, strongly oxidized to strongly gleyed, and are with and without calcareous nodules. The indicators of increasing soil maturity are: (1) increased abundance of amorphous organic residue and fungal clusters relative to miospores and cuticle; and (2) increased ripping, edge degradation and fungal, bacterial and mineral alteration of miospores.