The origin of the red soils which distribute widely over Ryukyu Islands by geochemical and isotopic approach

Abstract

Aluminum and iron rich red soils distribute widely over the Ryukyu Islands. The origin of the red soils has been considered as residual deposit of Ryukyu Limestones. However, the origin of the red soils is still debated into two possibilities; one is residual deposit of parent base rock, Quaternary and Paleozoic limestones (Ryukyu Limestones), and the other is long range transported aeolian dust from Inland Asia.