THE DYNAMICS OF SOILS IN NORTH QUEENSLAND: RATES OF MIXING BY TERMITES DETERMINED BY SINGLE GRAIN LUMINESCENCE DATING

Charles Darwin drew attention to the role of earthworms in the formation of the upper, organic-rich horizons of soils. He concluded (Darwin 1837) that progressive slow burial of objects, originally at the surface, could be explained by 'the large quantity of fine earth continually brought up to the surface by worms in the form of castings'. Darwin (1881) calculated rates of surface accumulation by weighing worm casts that accumulate