yes its do it

Prabha - you are right, physically Sedimentary horizon is differed from the soil horizon, and the sediment from the relatively higher topographical areas move towards the plains due to gravity and accreted in the region or further transported with the water flows or wind action, after deposition of that sediment, is there any chemical parameters that makes the differences of Sediment consisting of relatively younger particles and soil particles, if there be any such chemical properties of both sediments and soil, please let me know by sending me the links.

Convey my cordial thanks

Soil is the autochthonous layer on top of a lithological unit (magmatic, metamorphic, sedimentary) composed of mineral matter and organic matter accumulated in one or more horizons. It can be truly naturally or influenced by man (technosols). Soil may also exist within a stratigraphic sequence over- and underlain by sediments and consequently called a paleosol. By contrast, sediments have been derived from weathering of preexisting rocks, the fluid or clastic material is transport and deposited by wind, water and ice. They may be formed from settling down of organic material (biogenic/ organically) chemical) or the precipitation of chemical substances from solutions (inorganically chemical). They are mostly stratified and rarely massive. Based upon the granulometry, morphology of grains, mineralogical and chemical composition sediments and soil-types can be distinguished from each other and subdivided into different subtypes. An unambiguous subdivision and differentiation can only be achieved by following a chain of application: (1) pedology/geology, (2) mineralogy, (3) organic/ inorganic chemistry. Chemical parameters are seductive but can by no means be taken as a stand-alone approach. If you find, e.g., anomalously high amounts of Cr and Ti in thin beds sandwiched between sand and clay in a stratigraphic sequence it may be indicative of a paleosol. But you need to determine the type of contact, the internal texture, and the minerals hosting Ti, e.g., anatase plates = soil, anatase bi-pyramids = hydrothermal. It could also be a heavy mineral placer (Ti in rutile) or tuffaceous material (Ti in ilmenite). You can use elements in sediments to get an idea of their environment, e.g., Ni, V, Cr , Co in biogenic sediments such as coal seams or black shales. But even in this case I express a stark warning to only trust in chemical parameters for a subdivision.

Prof. Harald G. Dill - The sedimentary environment is well-known to me to some extent as I have been working on that particular environment for about three decades, but when I have started working on the forest soils, some soil chemical parameters shows alike that of the sediments keeping parity between the stable soil horizons and younger sedimentary depositional environment, that's why I have made a query on how far the soil environment is differed from that of sediments by chemical parameters.

Prava - Micro-environment and micro-relief undoubtedly characterize the chemical properties and nature of soil profile or sediments of that horizon of a particular area, but my query is related to the basic differences of soils and sediments based on the chemical properties/parameters/characteristics in general, if any, or simply, how can I differentiate between soil and sediment by chemical characteristics, is there any such chemical parameters, surprisingly, results obtained from the chemical analysis for the samples of soils and sediments of different regions show almost alike indicating same trends of similarities, though one is from the stable horizon, whereas another one is relatively younger and of recent origin which is transported and accreted in the depositional environment.

Further, Sediment and soil samples are collected and analysed from the lower Gangetic plains, the sediments are considered from the estuarine environment, and soils are taken from the forest floors of the same lower Gangetic deltaic set up

yes its do it

Dear Dr. Das,

can you please show us a section crossing the boundary betweenthe sedimentary parent material and the topsoil with regard to the various mineralogical and chemical parameters. This is the decisive section.

H.G.Dill

Prof. Dill, there is no boundaries either physically, chemically, mineralogically or biologically bordering the soil and sediments, that I have observed for the decades, perhaps that's why, bio-geo-chemical process keeps their status quo in the depositional environment consisting of both Soil and Sediments

Sediment is defined as a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion and is subsequently transported by the action of wind whereas soil profile is the vertical cross-section which containing differentiated horizon exhibited physical and chemical properties so that in terms of chemical parameters the two are different.

Markos Mathewos - transported Sediment particles form the soil horizon, as the soil profile is stagnant and stable, organic matter might change its chemical properties through the microbial biomass decomposition.

Dear Dr. Das,

you state that there is no boundary physically, chemically, and mineralogically. How do you know this ? Let us see how e.g. chemical compounds, minerals, TOC... change along a vertical section. Show us a photograph. Do you deal with a sediment overlain with a truncated pioneer soil. I have been working on six continents since 44 years. I have never heard about this. I repeat it once more present data for your statements. What is the bedrock lithology ?

H.G.Dill

Prof Dill

I simply generalized the sediment and soil without finding a chemical border, for an instance, when I have collected Sediment samples up to a depth of 1 meter from the estuarine environment for texture analysis after cutting a trench, there are several beddings like flaser, linear, lenticular etc in the stratigraphy, the radio carbon dating of the peats available in the clayey materials shows they have the older origin i.e. they are in the category of soil, in comparison to the surrounding Sediment particles, reflecting the admixture of soils sandwiched in between the Sediments particles, even in the vertical section of the coastal Sediment, mud balls are studded which are of soil characteristics, that's why I advocated for no boundary of soil and sediments, as because when I go to analyse the above mentioned Sediment samples, they will give the combined results of soil and Sediments, I have seen the existence of both Soil and Sediments in the same horizon, same profile and in the same region, which is very much characteristics of the upper part of the Indian and Bangladesh Sunderbans where I have been working for more than three decades. But surely, I am working on the forest soils very recently, naturally I don't have much more idea on soil like you, I have been working on Sediment textures and sedimentary structures, and Bioturbation structures in the field of tidal sedimentation of the estuarine environment. Convey my cordial thanks.

Gautam

Dear Dr. Das,

your description is not expedient because you cannot decide at which depth you found which type of texture, structure mineral etc. The entire discussion drifts away in what might be called poking around in the fog. This is not a scientific approach but more or less a chat. You cannot raise a question with no scientific platform to talk about. Give us a litholog top down with all the hallmarks and features to call it a “structureless sediment-soil” whatever this may be and then we can debate on that.

H.G.Dill

P.S. present a detailed photograph through your trench !

Prof. Dill

I had all those photographs of the cut out trenches snapped during the period of 1989-1994 at Thakuran River bed of the Hooghly Matla estuarine complex of the Lower Gangetic deltaic set up and these all were seen by veteran sedimentologists for the proper identification of the beddings before submission of my doctoral thesis, but they are now in a distorted shape for identification of bedding structures, and I have checked the negative of those photographs which are not in a position for the print further as they are too distorted by fungus.

Regards

Gautam

Sir what I could understand that the sediment in lower deltaic parts of sundarban mainly in upper marshes area you will get decompose part of mangrove leaf and roots along with normal sediment mainly clay sometimes silt also or mixture of both.

In contest of peat layer within the sediments are actually of typical fern type of middle to upper Holocene. But in typical soil profile you will get entire signature from organic rich to weathered rock till the original basement. But in stable delta portion where present day riverine influence is stopped and you will get only decomposed part of vegetable matter only.

However, in active delta mainly in marshes you will get both but the dominance of fluvial or marine activity which you won't get in soil profile.

Regards

Sachin

*not upper Holocene* but middle Holocene to recent.

I am sure you have a copy of the photographs printed in your Ph.D. thesis (?)