A fossil soil preserved within a sequence of deposits. They come from a period when cold conditions had improved enough for vegetation to colonize and for a soil to be formed. Palaeosols are widespread within the Pleistocene loess sequences of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. The Interstadials of the Weichselian have been reconstructed from the northern European palaeosol and loess succession; extensive palaeosols also characterize interglacials and interstadials of North America. It is a source of much palaeoenvironmental information.