Outcrop versus core and geophysical log interpretation of mid-Cretaceous paleosols from the Dakota Formation of Kansas

► Oxidation and salts in outcrop alter paleosols, which need to be examined in core. ► Cretaceous leaves in sandstones of Kansas are goethite (not pyrite) “death masks”. ► Mid-Cretaceous paleosols of Kansas record a warm-wet subtropical greenhouse spike.