Relationship between soils and regolith in a volcanic landscape on Otago Peninsula

Abstract

Eight soils of a litho-chronosequence on Otago Peninsula are described in relation to the age of the deposit, or surface on which they have developed. Features of profile morphology and soil genesis are discussed. In the absence of known dates, interpretation of regolith stratigraphy according to the law of superposition provides a relative chronology of soil-forming events. It is concluded that soils of Otago Peninsula are formed on materials of different ages, and their varying morphologies can be explained in terms of parent material and of climatically-induced processes operating during the Otira Glaciation. © 1973 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.