GENESIS AND WEATHERING OF ANDOSOLS IN TARANAKI, NEW ZEALAND

Abstract

The Andosols of the Taranaki region of New Zealand are formed from andesitic parent materials derived from the late Quaternary stratovolcano, Mt. Egmont. Numerous pathways exist in the evolution of Taranaki Andosols. The principal volcanic events that dominate soil evolution in this region were counted and an ordering of stages in Andosol genesis is presented. An estimate of the weathering of soil parent materials, from major silicate analyses of lapilli horizons, suggests the half-life of andesitic glass in Taranaki is about 7000 yr.