The Role of Soil Micromorphology in the Light of the European Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection -- Soil Micromorphology and Soil Hydraulics -- Micromorphology of a Soil Catena in Yucatán: Pedogenesis and Geomorphological Processes in a Tropical Karst Landscape -- Soil Evolution Along a Toposequence on Glacial and Periglacial Materials in the Pyrenees Range -- A Micromorphological Study of Andosol Genesis in Iceland -- Improved Paleopedological Reconstruction of Vertic Paleosols at Novaya Etuliya, Moldova Via Integration of Soil Micromorphology and Environmental Magnetism -- Ferricretes in Tamil Nadu, Chennai, South-Eastern India: From Landscape to Micromorphology, Genesis, and Paleoenvironmental Significance -- Palygorskite Dominated Vertisols of Southern Iran -- Contribution of Micromorphology to Classification of Aridic Soils -- Orientation and Spacing of Columnar Peds in a Sodic, Texture Contrast Soil in Australia -- Physical Fractionation and Cryo-Coupe Analysis of Mormoder Humus -- Regional Manifestation of the Widespread Disruption of Soil-Landscapes by the 4 kyr BP Impact-Linked Dust Event Using Pedo-Sedimentary Micro-Fabrics -- Clay Illuviation in a Holocene Palaeosol -Sequence in the Chinese Loess Plateau -- Soil Microstructure and Solution Chemistry of a Compacted Forest Soil in a Sub-Boreal Spruce Zone in Canada.

The book contains state of the art new research results in micromorphology as well as other disciplines of soil science. It provides very useful up-to-date information for researchers, educators, graduate students interested in microscopic and submicroscopic studies of soils and sediments. In the past, micromorphology has been considered almost solely as a descriptive and interpretative branch of science. Attempts are now made to obtain quantitative data. There has been much progress in applying soil micromorphology in Quaternary geology, in particular identifying and characterizing palaeosols. The new areas for soil micromorphology are soil ecology, materials sciences and archaeology.