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Alteration of paleosols following development and burial is common. Chemical, physical and mechanical processes can weld younger to older soil profiles and affect the accumulation, dissolution, and reprecipitation of mineral material in soils. Soil properties most affected include texture and porosity, and, the content and distribution of soluble salts, amorphous silica, gypsum, carbonate, and clay. Organic matter retention is highly dependent on post-burial biologically controlled oxidation reduction and pH conditions. Processes such as erosion and deposition can truncate profiles or bury them either rapidly or extremely slowly. Effects of these and other processes on soil properties must be examined with care in paleosols that have been buried even for a short interval. This study presents several examples of soil properties which should be evaluated carefully and possibly avoided as indicators in paleoenvironmental reconstruction, paleosol classification, and regional stratigraphic correlation. (C) 1998 Published by INQUA/Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.