Micromorphology of soils and palaeosoils in Belgium. An inventory and meta-analysis

Abstract A study of the literature dealing with micromorphology of Belgian soils and palaeosoils is presented. Most soils in Belgium developed in Quaternary covers, sandy in the north, becoming more silty towards the south, and mixed with more or less important amounts of substrate material. In addition, azonal soils occur in the recent dunes, the marine Polders and the alluvial areas. The main pedogenic micromorphological characteristics are bioturbation, clay illuviation features in the more silty materials, and spodic features in the more sandy materials. Glauconite plays an important role in pedogenesis. Throughout most profiles, features related to a sub-recent pedogenic environment are recognised, pointing to polygenetic soil formation. Impact of periglacial conditions is often visible. Bog ores in alluvial plains have a complex mineralogical composition and microfabric. Buried palaeosoils and soil sediments are discussed separately according to their age whereas polygenetic soils are treated together with the recent soils according to their geographic position. For some areas, e.g., the Polders, the sandy area of Flanders and the Pays de Gaume in the southernmost part of Belgium, only little micromorphological information is available. Most soils studied were situated under natural vegetation; studies of cultivated soils are rather rare.