Carbonized woods of such Pinaceae growing in taiga as Abies sachalinensis, Picea jezoensis, Picea glehnii and Larix gmelini are buried in the three horizons of the Kuttara pyroclastic deposits in the Satsunai plateau of Noboribetsu, southwest Hokkaido, Japan. The woods are named "Noboribetsu Petrified Forest", and chocolate-colored bands (paleosol bands) appear just beneath the three horizons. The 4th paleosol band is newly discovered in the area. The authors traced the paleosol bands beneath the Kt-1 and Kt-6 horizons stratigraphically over the area, then trenched for soil samples and observed in detail the paleosols in some typical outcrops. The results are summarized as follows: Paleosols are found in 4 horizons. The 1st and 3rd paleosol bands in descending order from the surface (1st is shallowest) are successively spread over the study area, the 2nd and 4th paleosol bands are locally observed. Carbonated woods are only found at the bottom of the Kt-1 and Kt-6 tephra horizons overlying the paleosol bands. In addition, the roots of carbonated trees are only found in the paleosol bands. The paleosol bands are composed of A, B and C or B and C soil horizons. The composition of the soil horizons alternates gradually between A,B,C and B,C in a horizontal direction. Diagenesis has substantially changed the initial characteristics of the paleosol bands following pyroclastic deposition. The authors expected that the paleosols would be transformed into podsolic soils in the area. But the authors couldn't find any clear evidence of this, such as albic horizons or accumulation horizons.
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