ABSTRACT
Palaeosols have figured strongly in stratigraphical studies of continental European Quaternary sediments, but only have they been encountered in published work on such deposits in the British Isles. In many ways, this is perhaps as well, since many problems must be resolved before can be satisfied that such soils provide acceptable stratigraphic markers and more, before they can be used for dating purposes. Many important palaeosols may reflect only limited pedogenesis and are represented only by thin, dark organic horizons. Such are the Allerød soils buried by solifluction and slopewash materials at the foot of the chalk scarps in southern England or by aeolian coversands in the low countries. Again, organic staining is the principal primary clue to the recognition of many of the interglacial palaeosols of the American plains. Buried palaeosols, if they can be unmistakably identified, are immediately attractive to the Quaternary geologist and geomorphologist since they form recognisable marker horizons.
