Le premier verset de la Genèse raconte qu’au commencement, Dieu créa le ciel et la terre. Le monde, sa forme et sa matière, de même que le temps, soutient Augustin, surgissent alors dans l’être, à partir de rien, en un seul instant, celui de la Création. Censés couronner l’œuvre créatrice, l’homme et la femme, pourtant, ne tardent pas à rompre le lien de confiance qui les unit à leur Créateur, en faisant mauvais usage d’une chose bonne : leur liberté. À cause de sa première transgression, nous dit Augustin, l’humanité portera désormais la marque du péché, que seule la figure rédemptrice du Christ, le Second Adam, pourra effacer, grâce au pardon donné à tous ceux qui choisissent d’emprunter sa voie. Or, en raison de son désir irrépressible de connaître et de faire l’expérience du monde par le biais de son propre être donné, soumis au changement, l’homme semble perpétuellement tenté par la transgression des limites essentielles de sa relativité à Dieu. Pourtant, Dieu, l’unique créateur de l’être des choses créées, crée toute chose bonne, du moins dans une certaine mesure : le mal dont semblent caractérisés l’être même et les actions des hommes, correspond, en vérité, aux multiples degrés de bien qui résultent d’une privation plus ou moins grande du Bien suprême qu’est Dieu. Berbère de culture romaine, témoin et acteur des derniers jours de l’Antiquité, penseur bouillonnant et théologien essentiel, Augustin laissera une œuvre importante et féconde. Nous tenterons ici de comprendre le contexte d’émergence de sa doctrine du péché originel. / The first verse of Genesis says that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The world, its form and matter, and time, argues Augustin, arose in Being out of nothing, in one single instant, that of the Creation. Conceived as the coronation of Creation, man, however, quickly breaks the trust relationship with his Creator, and does this by making evil use of a good thing: his free will. Because of its first transgression, says Augustine, humanity will, from now on, bear the mark of sin, which only the redemptive figure of Christ, the Second Adam, can erase, for all of those willing to follow his path. Yet, because of his irrepressible desire to acquire knowledge and experience of the world through his own given being, subject to change, man appears to be perpetually tempted by the transgression of his essential relativity to God. God, however, being the sole creator of the very being of created things, creates all things good, but to a certain degree: evil, which seems to characterize the being and actions of men, in reality, corresponds to varying degrees of goodness, which themselves result from more or less privation of the Supreme Good, namely, God. Berber of roman culture, witness and actor of the last days of Antiquity, passionate thinker and essential theologian, Augustine has produced some of humanity’s most important writings. In this work, we will attempt to understand the context which led to the emergence of his doctrine of original sin.

Deux interrogations sont à l'origine de cette recherche: un « problème herméneutique » qui porte sur ce que l'injonction pascalienne « travaillons donc à bien penser » est en mesure de signifier dans le contexte de l’augustinisme cartésien qui disqualifie les voies traditionnelles de la raison et un questionnement méthodologique qui porte sur la manière dont on peut travailler à bien penser la somme fondamentalement incertaine constituée par les petits papiers découverts à la mort de Pascal. La première partie pose que la déconstruction et la dissémination du Texte pascalien ne peuvent autoriser une méthode herméneutique que si elles sont éclairées par une intention qui en pense la nécessité et le sens, très exactement sur le modèle gnoséologique de la Bible, que l'exégèse renaissante commence à ressaisir dans son historicité. Le renoncement visible des « petits papiers » aux trois principes de la congruence, de la non-répétition et de la non-contradiction, qui fondent dans notre coutume le « texte » peut être qualifié d'intentionnel. Sur ce fondement, qui légitime une méthode herméneutique, la seconde partie montre que si la nature de l'homme se reflète dans sa pensée, tout entière suspendue par nature entre une double polarité qui la fait osciller entre hasard et nécessité, vide et intentionnalité, ordre et désordre, alors le seul discours auquel il s'agit de se soumettre en tant qu'il restaure un sens et une nécessité au monde jusqu'au coeur du hasard apparent et du fonctionnement de la pensée humaine (que seule la pensée peut penser) est l'enseignement des deux Testaments. / This research work stems from two main questions: on the one hand, from a 'hermeneutical problem' funded on what Pascal‟s famous injunction -'Let us strive, then, to think well' -might mean in the context of Augustinian Cartesianism, which disqualifies traditional reasoning, and on the other hand, from a methodological questioning funded on the ways in which one might strive, then, to think well the notes found on the many scraps of paper discovered after Pascal‟s death. The first part argues that the deconstruction and dissemination of the Text can only authorize a hermeneutical approach provided they are enlightened by a specific intention, which might think out its very necessity and meaning, on the same mode as the gnoseological model of the Bible, which the emerging exegesis is just beginning to seize again by adopting a historicist approach. In the „scraps of paper‟, the renunciation to the three principles of congruence, non-repetition and non-contradiction, which are the foundations of the „text‟, can clearly be described as intentional. There entails from that a legitimate hermeneutical approach, which is developed in the second part. It shows that if the nature of man is reflected in his thought, itself held up by nature between a double polarity, with thought oscillating between chance and necessity, emptiness and intentionality, order and disorder, then the only discourse to which one can be submitted is the teaching of the two Testaments, inasmuch as it re-installs some meaning and necessity to the world, as well as to the workings of human thought (which our thought only can think).

Dans un monde devenu séculier et où la tradition chrétienne est en recul, on est en droit de se poser la question de la pertinence des textes bibliques. En lien avec cette situation, on peut aussi se demander quelle représentation de Dieu émerge de la façon dont on accueille ces textes. Ce type de questionnement sous-tend l’intérêt que peut représenter une approche processuelle des textes bibliques, approche encore peu connue dans le monde francophone. Celle-ci est-elle en mesure d’apporter une certaine nouveauté dans la vision de Dieu généralement proposée en milieu chrétien ? Pour répondre à cela, il a semblé pertinent de tenter l’exercice à partir d’un texte englobant et fondateur. Genèse 2, connu pour raconter la création d’Adam et Ève, est porteur d’images presque stéréotypées à force d’avoir été lu et remâché. À ce titre, il a paru particulièrement approprié. Mais, avant même d’explorer le texte sous un angle processuel, il s’est avéré indispensable de commencer cette démarche par une traduction personnelle du texte hébreu, à partir et avec l’aide d’une analyse syntaxique et textuelle, dont on verra qu’elles ont ouvert le texte à de nouvelles hypothèses de traduction, de nouvelles nuances, comme autant de pistes à confronter à une théologie processuelle. Enfin, cette analyse ne peut se faire sans être en dialogue avec différents commentaires, exégétiques ou non, afin de souligner les convergences comme les divergences rencontrées au fil de la recherche et de la réflexion. / In the world that has become secular and where the Christian tradition is declining, we are entitled to question the pertinence of the biblical texts. In link with this situation, one can also wonder which representation of God arises depending how one receives these texts. This type of questioning underlies the interest that a Process approach of biblical texts can represent, even though the approach is still not much known in the French-speaking world. Does this approach possesses the ability of bringing some novelty to the vision of God generally offered in the Christian world ? To answer this, it seemed preferable to try the experience from a founding and forerunner text. Genesis 2, known to tell the creation of Adam and Eve, is bearing most stereotypic images by having been read and read, and chewed again. Therefore, seemed to be particularly accurate. But even before exploring the text from a Process angle, it has been proved essential to begin this with a personal translation of the Hebrew text, from and with the help of a syntactic and textual analysis, which as it will be shown, has conducted to open the text to new assumptions of translations and nuances, as so many tracks to be confronted to a Process theology. Finally, this analysis cannot be made without engaging in a dialogue with different commentaries, exegetical or not, in order to underline the convergences as well as the divergences met in the course of the research and of the reflexion.

La thèse aborde le « trou noir de la genèse » dans l’étude des organisations, c’est-àdire comment une organisation en vient à exister pour la première fois. Elle montre comment la genèse s’accomplit à travers l’agencement de multiples composantes (humaines, symboliques, matérielles), articulées à travers les interactions. S’appuyant sur une analyse détaillée des interactions performées durant le congrès fondateur d’un parti politique au Québec tenu durant l’année 2006, elle identifie et discute les diverses stratégies et tactiques employés par les artisanes et artisans de cette fondation pour mettre en acte l’existence de ce nouvel agent collectif. Autrement dit, la thèse mène à une recension des manières de « communiquer la genèse ». Cela inclut l’usage de narratifs unificateurs, la gestion des identités, la mise en place de principes à travers des documents fondateurs, et la création d’une voix collective, à la fois partagée et négociée par les divers agents impliqués dans ce processus. Ces accomplissements mettent en lumière la dimension résolument rhétorique de l’organisation, conçus en tant que « stratégies pour rendre compte d’une situation », pour nommer sa structure et ses composantes primordiales à travers « l’usage du langage comme moyen symbolique d’induire la coopération ». La configuration rhétorique de discours, d’objets, de corps, de dispositifs spatiaux et physiques, et d’impératifs économiques, politiques et institutionnels à l’oeuvre dans les organisations procure un nouvel éclairage sur les modes d’existence de l’organisation. Par le fait de recenser les composantes « essentielles » ou « fondatrices » du parti politique investigué, et par l’analyse de celle-ci à l’aide des concepts de la théorie rhétorique du dramatisme, la thèse développe une perspective novatrice pour l’étude de la constitution communicative des organisations. / The dissertation addresses the “black hole of genesis” in organizational studies: how an organization gets constructed in the first place, and for the first time. It shows that an organization is founded through the interplay of various agencies (human, symbolic, material) articulated by communicative interactions. Based on the in-depth analysis of interactions performed during the founding convention of a political party in the Canadian province of Québec in 2006, it identifies and discusses the various strategies and tactics employed by members to enact the existence of a new collective agent, i.e., their ways of “communicating genesis.” Those include unification narratives, management of identities, institution of principles through founding documents, and the establishment of a collective voice, simultaneously shared and disputed by various agents. Such accomplishments are inherently rhetorical to the extent that they are “strategies for encompassing a situation,” for naming its structure and outstanding ingredients through “the use of language as a symbolic means of inducing cooperation.” This rhetorical configuration of discourses, objects, bodies, physical and spatial designs, economical, political, and institutional imperatives, that represents the heterogeneous agencies at work in organizations, bears new lights on what organizations come into being. By identifying the “foundational” or “essential” components of this political party, and by inscribing them in the concepts of the dramatist rhetorical theory, the dissertation develops an innovative perspective for the study of the communicative constitution of organizations.

Pour exprimer ou définir une idée nouvelle, Derrida détourne souvent le sens d’un mot en se l’appropriant. La relation de Derrida avec les idées est telle que leur transmission passe par un vocabulaire spécifique, notamment l’analyse de l’étymologie (vraie et fausse). Mais quelle est sa conception du mot ? Quelles en sont les implications et les conséquences ? Pour répondre à ces questions, l’approche la plus féconde consiste à suivre au plus près celle que Derrida utilise en abordant la langue par rapport à la grammaire au sens large (c’est-à-dire tout ce qui fait événement dans la langue). En effet, la relation entre le mot et l’idée prend tout son sens dans l’analyse de certaines scènes bibliques, telles celles de la Genèse ou encore du mythe de Babel. Le fameux énoncé inaugural de l’Évangile de Jean, « Au commencement était la parole... », fait retour dans l’œuvre de Derrida, où il connaît plusieurs variations : il mérite examen, dans la perspective d’une déconstruction du logos et des origines de la langue. Le corpus de notre étude porte principalement sur trois textes de Jacques Derrida : « Des tours de Babel » (L’art des confins, PUF, 1979), Schibboleth – Pour Paul Celan (Galilée, 1986) et Donner la mort (Galilée, 1999), ces textes permettant tous une interrogation de l’« intention » divine dans le langage. Notre visée, en privilégiant dans l’œuvre derridienne ces « exemples » bibliques, est d’étudier la démarche de Derrida dans la « création » d’une langue, aspect qui a toujours été inséparable de l’élaboration de sa philosophie et auquel il a accordé la plus grande attention. À terme, ce travail se veut une contribution à la pensée du philosophe, portant sur un aspect capital de son travail et battant en brèche l’idée que son écriture est « absconse » ou « hermétique », alors qu’il y va pour lui de la mise en œuvre de sa manière même de concevoir la langue. / In order to express or define a new idea, Derrida often alters the meaning of a word in order to make it his own. Derrida’s relationship with ideas mostly expresses itself through a specific vocabulary which finds its roots in an etymological analysis (whether true or false). How does Derrida conceive the word? What are its implications and consequences? In order to answer these questions, one ought to follow closely Derrida’s approach of language through grammar in its broader sense (meaning anything which produces an event in language). It is by the examination of biblical episodes such as Genesis or Babel’s myth that the relationship between a word and the idea it represents is better conceived. The inaugural sentence in the gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word…”, is often present in Derrida’s work, where its numerous occurrences undergo various transformations: this requires a closer inspection, especially in retrospect of logos’s deconstruction and the origin of language. This analysis will be based upon, amongst other texts, Shibboleth: for Paul Celan, The Gift of Death and “Des Tours de Babel” since they allow the possibility of a “divine intention” within language. Our objective, through a preferential study of those biblical “examples” in Derrida’s work, is to study his creation process pertaining to language. This aspect has always been intertwined with the elaboration of his philosophy and he has given it the utmost attention. In the end, this analysis presents itself as a contribution to the philosopher’s thinking, addressing a paramount aspect of his work while disproving the idea that his writing is “unreachable”, whereas it is, in fact, a question of how Derrida conceives language.

Le but de ce travail est de jeter une lumière nouvelle sur le rôle et la fonction de l’idée de science au sein de la réflexion phénoménologique, et en particulier chez deux auteurs majeurs, Husserl et Heidegger. D’un côté, l’idée de science relève pour ainsi dire d’une tendance « centrifuge » qui oblige la phénoménologie à regarder en direction des sciences déjà constituées, de l’autre côté, cette même idée relève au contraire d’une tendance « centripète », qui impose à la phénoménologie la tâche de son auto-problématisation.Chez Husserl comme chez Heidegger le développement de cette tension prend, toute proportion gardée, la forme d’une analyse concernant l’attitude « scientifico-théorétique ». Ici, l’objectivité visée n’est mise en question qu’à partir du problème de sa genèse. La question de l’origine de la science indique que le lieu de naissance de l’attitude scientifico-théorique réside de fait dans la dimension prethéorétique : donc la question de la science n’est qu’une question sur la genèse de la science. Et l’analyse génétique ne peut que renvoyer à la dimension prethéorétique, conçue celle-ci comme le lieu d’origine du theorein. Voilà pourquoi la Rückfrage, ou « question en retour », en direction du lieu de naissance, marque le détour nécessaire grâce auquel la dimension prethéorétique de la science se laisse enfin découvrir. A travers une lecture des oeuvres majeures de Husserl et Heidegger, ce travaille vise à élucider les modalités de la naissance et la genèse de l’attitude théorétique, en utilisant les instruments critiques donnés dans les analyses de M. Merleau-Ponty et J. Derrida. / The purpose of this research project is to point out the role and the function of the idea of science within the phenomenological reflection, and in particular among its two major spokespersons: E. Husserl and M. Heidegger. The idea of science indeed leads phenomenology on the one hand to criticize and to put in discussion existing sciences and, on the other hand, to debate the same philosophical environment. A tension therefore that recurs time after time within an individual argumentative context, a tension that never finds a way to direct itself to a specific thematic attention; this problematic field appears indeed as a tension between positive and philosophical methodology, theoretical and natural dimension, theory and praxis, ideal and historical forms: a tension that anyway cannot be sorted out by virtue of the supremacy of a simple pole on the other, but that continues to persist and modify itself within the opposition of the same elements.Thanks to an examination of some Husserl’s and Heidegger’s greatest works, this research tries to discuss the genetic modes of theoretical scientific attitude, reason why it takes advantages of some M. Merleau-Ponty’s and J. Derrida’s critical reflections.

The subject of this thesis is an exegetical study on chapter thirty-eight of the book Genesis; a narrative of the story about Judah and Tamar. The thesis begins with a critical analysis of the original Hebrew text. In the second section, a critical examination of the text is undertaken using synchronous and diachronous methods, followed by a verse-by-verse commentary which includes three excursuses. The first excursus discusses levirate marriage. The second is concerned with Hebrew word הקדש and with its meaning and translation. The theme of the third excursus is the understanding of righteousness as social solidarity in the Old Testament. Subsequently, in the final section of the thesis, the reception of Genesis 38 in the Old and New Testaments is considered. Furthermore, four examples of reception and interpretation throughout Christian history are presented: The Book of Jubilees, Commentary on Genesis by Ephrem the Syrian, Martin Luther's Lectures on Genesis and an interpretation by Dorothee Sölle as an example of feminism and liberation theology. Lastly, to conclude, the application of the story is proposed, which could serve as a starting point for subsequent theological work.

A vegetação de restinga é uma formação típica que ocorre na costa brasileira em materiais de origem quartzosos e pobres em nutrientes. O principal processo pedogenético que ocorre nos solos sob essa vegetação é a podzolização, sendo os Espodossolos e os Neossolos com podzolização incipiente os solos mais comumente encontrados. A podzolização é freqüentemente estudada em regiões de clima frio, sendo escassos os estudos dos mesmos em clima tropical e desenvolvidos sobre sedimentos marinhos quartzosos. Foram coletados e descritos morfologicamente nove perfis de solos sob vegetação de restinga na Ilha do Cardoso-SP com o objetivo de caracterizá-los em sua química, física, morfologia, mineralogia e estudar a dinâmica do Fe e do Al nestes solos com o intuito não só de se compreender melhor a gênese dos mesmos como para contribuir com o aprimoramento do Sistema Brasileiro de Classificação de Solos (SiBCS). Os resultados mostraram solos hidromórficos, arenosos, muito ácidos, com teores variáveis de matéria orgânica e fases não cristalinas Al e Fe, sendo que o Al é o metal que participa mais efetivamente do processo de podzolização, o qual é altamente dependente da hidromorfia. Este fato é evidenciado pela microtopografia, que exerce papel importante na distribuição dos solos. Foi identificada pirita em alguns horizontes (2Cgj), os quais apresentam características distintas em relação aos demais, tais como textura mais fina e presença de esmectita. Este material de origem influencia até os horizontes espódicos, reduzindo o pH bruscamente na determinação da TFSA (terra fina seca ao ar), devido à influência indireta promovida pelo lençol freático. Nos horizontes espódicos, os principais minerais encontrados foram o feldspato e o quartzo na fração silte e a caulinita e o quartzo na fração argila, evidenciando uma assembléia mineralógica mais pobre em relação a outros Espodossolos de clima frio e até mesmo em relação a outros da costa brasileira. Isso ocorre devido principalmente ao próprio material de origem ser muito pobre em minerais primários intemperizáveis. O SiBCS mostrou falhas na classificação da ordem Espodossolos a partir do 2º nível categórico (subordem), principalmente no que diz respeito ao acúmulo de Fe no horizonte espódico. Sugerese a inserção da denominação "tiônico" no quarto nível categórico, devido à possibilidade da ocorrência de solos tiomórficos, se forem drenados, bem como a adoção de um critério químico na distinção das subordens dos Espodossolos. As relações Carbono/Metal evidenciaram a baixa participação do Fe, sendo o Al o responsável pela precipitação química do complexo organometálico. Os Espodossolos estudados são holocênicos e a podzolização é dependente da hidromorfia. A presença de sulfetos de ferro afeta parte dos solos estudados e pode coincidir com horizontes espódicos. / Restinga vegetation is a typical formation that occurs in brazilizan coast, on quartzitic, sandy poor parent material. The main pedogenic process that occurs in soils under this vegetation is the podzolization, being the Spodosols and Quartzipsamments, with incipient podzolization, the most common soils. Podzolization is frequently studied in regions of cold climate, with a lack of studies in tropical climate and quartzitic material. Nine soil profiles under restinga vegetation at Ilha do Cardoso, São Paulo State, had been sampled and morphologically described with the objective to proceed chemical, physical, morphological and mineralogical characterization and study Fe and Al dynamics in these soil with the aim of better comprehend its genesis, as well as contribute to an improvement of the Brazilian System of Soil Classification (SiBCS). The results had shown aquic, sandy, very acid soils with variable contents of organic matter and Al and Fe non crystalline phases. Al appears to be the metal that participate more effectively on podzolization process, which is highly dependent on aquic conditions. Being so, microtopography plays an important role in soil distribution. Pyrite and smectite was also identified in clay horizons (2Cgj) related to a distinct parent material. This material also influences spodic horizon chemistry generating low pH values in dried samples due to water table effects. Spodic horizons are mainly constitute by feldspar and quartz, in the silt fraction, and kaolinite and quartz, in the clay fraction, evidencing a poor mineralogical assembly in relation to other Spodosols of cold climate and even to those of Brazilian coast. This mainly occurs due to parent material which presents few weatherable primary minerals. SiBCS showed imperfections in the classification of Spodosols from 2nd categorical level (suborder), mainly because the absence of a chemical criteria for Fe accumulation in spodic horizon. We suggest the insertion of "thionic " denomination in the 4th categorical level because of the possible formation of acid sulphate soils in response to drainage, as well as the adoption of a chemical criteria in the distinction of subordens of Spodosols. Carbon/Metal ratios had evidenced low participation of Fe, being Al responsible for chemical precipitation of organo-metallic complex. Our Spodosols are holocenic and podzolization process depends on aquic conditions. Presence of iron sulfides affects some of the studied soils an also coincide with spodic horizons.

Esta pesquisa investigou os processos de gênese dos NITOSSOLOS VERMELHOS Férricos, buscando compreender quais os fatores que levam a diferenciação entre Nitossolos típicos, nos quais encontramos a sequência de horizontes A-Bni-C e Nitossolos latossólicos, mais comuns, de sequência A-Bni-Bw-C. A área de estudos é a bacia do córrego Miringuava, situada no município de Maringá-PR. Esta pequena bacia se insere em um setor da bacia do ribeirão Pinguim no qual ocorre uma transição, entre duas áreas de domínio latossólico, uma no alto curso do Pinguim, outra no baixo curso. A área apresenta-se dominada por Nitossolos e por associações entre Cambissolos e Neossolos Litólicos, que ocorrem devido à presença de diques de diabásio relacionados aos derrames basálticos da Formação Serra Geral. Para atingir este objetivo, investigamos a relação entre a declividade e a posição destes solos nas vertentes, a ocorrência de transporte de argila no interior destes perfis e sua eventual relação com a formação dos horizontes B níticos (Bni) e por fim, a relação da evolução destes sistemas pedológicos com a evolução do relevo regional. Os procedimentos adotados no estudo seguem a abordagem da Análise Estrutural da Cobertura Pedológica, proposta por Boulet (1982 a, b, c). Os resultados mostram que há uma relação entre declividade e a posição destes solos na vertente, embora não seja possível estabelecer um limite que possa ser extrapolado para toda a bacia do Pinguim. Revelam ainda indícios que apontam para processos de eluviação/iluviação nos perfis estudados e, por fim, que provavelmente os horizontes Bni se formaram a partir de antigos horizontes B latossólicos (Bw), como os encontrados no alto curso do ribeirão pinguim, e que há um processo atual de degradação dos horizontes Bni, que ocorre através da fragmentação de sua estrutura poliédrica em uma estrutura microagregada, sugerindo que há um processo de latossolização destes sistemas, que provavelmente evoluirão para uma cobertura pedológica semelhante à encontrada no setor do baixo curso do ribeirão Pinguim, dominado por Latossolos eutróficos. / This research investigated the genetic processes which give origin to the Red ferric Nitisols, trying to understand which factors lead to the differentiation between the typical Nitisols, with a horizon sequence A-Bni-C and the latosolic Nitisols, the most common type, with an A-Bni-Bw-C horizon sequence. The study area is the Miringuava Creek basin, located in the municipality of Maringá-PR, Brazil. This small hydrographic basin is placed in a sector of the Pinguim Creek basin, in which occurs a transition between two sectors dominated by Latosols, one in the high course of the Pinguim Creek and the other in the low course. The area is dominated by Nitisols and associations of shallow, poorly developed soils, which occur due to the presence of diabase dikes related to the basalts of the Serra Geral Formation. In order to accomplish the goal of this work, we investigated the relationship between slope and the positions of the soils in the hillslopes, clay transportation within the soil systems and finally, the relation between soil coverage and regional landform evolution. The procedures adopted for this research are based on the Structural Analisys of the Pedologic Coverage, proposed by Boulet (1982, a, b, c). The results show a relationship between slope and soil position, although it wasn´t possible to establish a limit which could be extrapolated for the entire area of the Pinguim Creek basin. The results also reveal evidence which point towards clay migration within the soil profiles studied in this work and finally, point to an evolution process in which the nitic horizons are formed from older latosolic horizons, such as the ones found in highest sectors of the Pinguim Creek basin, and that there is a present process of degradation of the nitic horizons, which through the fragmentation of the blocky structures into microgranular ones, suggesting that the Nitisols are evolving into younger eutrofic Latosols, similar to the ones found in the sectors of the low course of the Pinguim Creek.

Horizontes coesos de solos da região nordeste do Brasil, faixa de domínio dos Tabuleiros Costeiros, são uma séria limitação para a produtividade das culturas devido ao incremento acentuado da resistência do solo à penetração, sob condições de secamento do solo. Solos similares foram reconhecidos na Austrália e identificados como hardsetting. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi demonstrar que o caráter coeso de um Latossolo Amarelo localizado na Bahia é equivalente ao atributo hardsetting utilizado na descrição do solos australianos. A tese foi dividida em três capítulos. O primeiro capítulo apresenta uma revisão de literatura sobre os conceitos que norteiam os designativos coeso e hardsetting. O segundo capítulo descreve uma pesquisa de campo que demonstra que solos com caráter coeso e hardsetting apresentam o mesmo comportamento, no que diz respeito às feições morfológicas e resistência à penetração. O terceiro capítulo apresenta um estudo de laboratório que demonstrou, por meio da análise de parâmetros físicos e micromorfológicos, que o adensamento natural das partículas foi o principal fator que contribuiu com a ocorrência do caráter coeso do solo. / "Cohesive" soil horizons from the northeastern region of Brazil, domain of Low Coastal Tablelands, represents a serious limitation for crop production due to the huge increase in soil resistance to penetration as the soil dries. Similar soils have been reported in Australia and identified as hardsetting. The objective of this research was to demonstrate that a Yellow Cohesive Latosol located in Bahia is equivalent to the hardsetting attribute used in the description of Australian soils. The thesis was divide in three chapters. The first chapter presents a literature review on the "cohesive" and hardsetting concepts. The second chapter describes a field research showing that a "cohesive" and a hardsetting soil have the same behavior regarding their morphological features and resistance to penetration. The third chapter presents a laboratory study where is demonstrated that the natural densification of soil particles has a major contribution on the "cohesive" behavior.