it is applicable to paleosols of any age. The criteria are: Formed in situ on bedrock, soft-sediment deformation at the top of the profile, and up-profile changes in chemistry, texture, and mineralogy consistent with terrestrial weathering processes. In the field, physical signs of a paleosol include evidence of horizonation (e.g., color and textural changes), bedrock incorporated into a finer overlying lithology (corestones), and evidence of surface processes (e.g., root traces, organic matter, burrows, redox alteration). Below is a list of soils and some of their diagnostic features that provides a framework for telling these paleosols, or even modern soils, apart: Entisol (incipient soil) Horizons (top-to-bottom): A & C This soil has a very slight degree of soil formation. Original crystalline, metamorphic, or sedimentary features of the parent material experienced little alteration from soil formation. Most are found on young geomorphic surfaces such as flood plains and on steep slopes where erosion removes material as the soil forms. Signs of early successional vegetation of grasses and other herbs and shrubs. Root traces are diagnostic of this type of paleosol because of the small amount of alteration from their parent material in other respects. However, for Entisols of Ordivician age or older, a peak in magnetic susceptibility is indicative of an Entisol. Inceptisol (young soil) Horizons: A, sometimes E, Bw, & C These soils represent a stage of formation beyond Entisols, but not to the degree of development in other soil orders. Typically can be imagined as having a light-colored surface horizon over a moderately weathered subsurface horizon. Forms in low-rolling parts of landscapes in and around steep mountain fronts. Shrubby woodlands of pole trees that form during recolonization of disturbed ground by forests are particularly characteristic of this paleosol. Open woodlands and wooded grasslands are also characteristic of this paleosol. Andisol (volcanic ash soil) Horizons: A, Bw, & C These are soils of volcanic ash of siliceous nature, consisting of bubbles or shards of volcanic glass with a high internal surface area. This soil weathers rapidly to imogolite and smectite. Thus they are highly fertile, rich in organic matter, and have particularly low bulk density. These properties and the aforementioned weathering products typically alter during burial, sometimes to distinctive minerals like celadonite and clinoptilolite. At least 60% recognizable pyroclastic fragments in thin sections are characteristic of this paleosol. This paleosol forms in and around volcanoes. Histosol (peaty soil) Horizons: O, A,