A synthesis attempt of dating podzolization periods in Fontainebleau Forest (France)

The sandy materials underlying the Fontainebleau Forest (Paris Basin) are often podzolized. Several radiocarbon datings reveal different periods of podzolization: - during the first millenary before Christ (aliotic podzols, often humic, over Stampian sands, very quartzic and acid - certainly under heather and pines); - from 10. to 12. centuries AD (humo-ferruginous podzols with Bh and Bs partially indurated, over blown sands, poor in fine particles - probably under heather); - from 16. to 17. centuries AD (ochre-podzolic soils on blown sands, richer in fine particles than precedent, and humic podzols upon eroded Stampian sands); - more recently, not precisely dated (ochre-podzolic soils or podzols with loose Bh over blown sands, relatively rich in fine particles, sometimes under leafed trees). (authors)