Critical assessment of Jenny’s soil forming equation in light of cosmic airbursts on the Viso Massif

Abstract

Abstract Jenny’s soil formation equation places soil morphogenesis as a response to climate (cl), biota (o), relief (r), parent material (p), and time (t), written thus: s= f (cl, o, r, p, t…), where each variable is considered independent. Because some soils and paleosols contain cosmic impact/airburst evidence, recent soil morphogenesis research requires a rewritten equation: s= f (cl, o, r, p, t, c…), where c = cosmic. This addition serves to alert researchers to the presence of cosmic input to soils under investigation as part of geological and geomorphological projects. In particular, research targeting the cause of the Younger Dryas Climatic Divide (YDCD) might focus only on pollen in European glaciolacustrine sediments, reversal of the marine thermohaline circulation in the N. Atlantic Ocean, and possible reversal of postglacial warming at the Allerød termination (12.8 ka), when a search for cosmic grains may change the research outcome. Hence, the importance of the ‘c’ addition to Jenny’s factor analysis of soil morphogenesis.