Abstract:

The study of ancient paddy soils is helpful for the understanding of human activities’ influnce on soil evolution and carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry. The buried rice field clusters found in Chuodunshan ruin of Kunshan City in Jiangsu Province and a chronosequence of paddy soils identified with various planting times in Cixi city of Zhejiang Province provided an opportunity and platform to conduct these related studies. In this paper, characteristics of soil carbon composition, distribution, properties and the relation with soil minerals were summarized to compare ancient soils with modern ones. The studies about soil organic nitrogen in demestic and abroad were also discussed. We hope to find difference in the composition and amino acid optical rotation between ancient and modern soils to know more about soil carbon and nitrogen evolution process. Finally, the future study of ancient paddy soil in carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry was prospected.