(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6CGtXcavSuo/S-wH-dT28nI/AAAAAAAAAS0/WiTeWCZFDOQ/s1600/gleyed+soil.JPG)

The image above is an example of gleying in soil. What is gleying? It is when low oxygen soil conditions (such as a high water table) cause iron and manganese to reduce, and make the soil gray. There are some cases where plants grow in soils that have low oxygen, and the roots that go into the gleyed soil provide just enough oxygen so that iron and manganese don’t reduce, and the soil remains an orangey color- just around the roots.

I wonder if this phenomenon can be seen in the sediment record, or if it is specifically only visible in a more short term?

---