Formación de suelos policíclicos durante el Cuaternario reciente en el Monte Borrelho (N. de Portugal)

Abstract

[Abstract] Pedological and palynological characterization oftwo soils from Monte Borrelho (northern Portugal) evidences the formation ofpolycyclic soils in the Subatlantic. In both soils, two cycles are clearly separated by a stone line which may have resulted either from climatic deterioration or because human activity led to severe deforestation and the consequent preferential development ofherbaceous and shrub vegetation. Either cause would have favoured intense erosion, removing part of the upper A horizon of the pre-existing soils and giving rise to profiles with polycyclic characteristics.