The accumulation and stability of soil organic matter are related to slope steepness. The relationships between steepness and the humification degree of humic acids, the charcoal fragment content and its radiocarbon age were quantitatively evaluated. Four Latosols (Oxisols) of the summit, shoulder, back slope and back/foot slope of a toposequence under pasture in a cratonic area in the southern Minas Gerais state, southwest Brazil, were used. The parent material of the Latosols was gneiss of the Precambrian complex, with an […]

The diversity of ecosystems in southeastern Brazil can not always be related to edaphic, geomorphologic, or hydrologic factors. Mountain summits, where soils are characterized by common parent material, offer a special environment for studies of soil genesis and dating of cyclic events related to regional climate dynamics. After a detailed investigation of soils from the São José Hills (Prados – Minas Gerais State, Brazil), two soil profiles (P1 and P2) originated from arenite of the Tiradentes Formation were studied. They […]