Kaolinic palaeoweatherings: climatic significance and signature in the sedimentary column

Important parts of wide kaolinic surfaces of the modern tropical areas are inherited from palaeoweatherings dating back to the Cretaceous. The Cretace ous kaolinic event is also well known in the sedimentary sequences, at extr a-tropical latitudes, inclusively. Taking into account the CO2 high level o f the Cretaceous atmosphere, geochemical modelling allows the explanation o f the exceptional development of kaolinic soils at that time. The analysis of the relations which exist between the rate of formation of kaolinic soil s and the factors causing their erosion draws attention to the difficulties of climatic interpretation of kaolinite deposits in the basins ((C) 1999 A cademie des sciences/Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.).