Paleosols and climates in the quaternary of south America

Numerous paleosols have been described in the Quaternary as well as a few paleosols in pre-Quaternary rocks of South America. A broad ordering of the more important occurrences of paleosols show four main regions for pedogenesis: A) The lowlands adjacent to the South Atlantic (the Pampa and surrounding areas) with typical loess-paleosol and similar sequences. B) The Andes, characterized by paleosols intercalated with moraines, as high as 4000 m.a.s.l., which are frequently developed in pyroclastic materials. C) The Caribbean region, where soil-forming processes underwent the following succession: Oxisols in the Lower Quaternary → Ultisols → Alfisols → Vertisols → Entisols in the Holocene. D) The Amazonian region located almost permanently under udic moisture regimes of different types. The soils are typically Oxisols and Ultisols.