• Linking pedological change to changes in soil forming factors: To what extent is pedological change attributable to changes in factors of soil formation, disturbances, or intrinsic feedbacks? Is pedological change proportional to that of environmental controls?This is particularly relevant for soil (and other Earth surface system) responses to climate, anthropic, and other environmental changes, as potential changes in complexity have profound implications for the methods, context, and uncertainty of predictions.• Interpretation of paleosols, soil stratigraphy, and soil memory: Are observed features attributable to single or multiple potential causes or developmental trajectories? Is the magnitude or variability of preserved features likely to be disproportionately small or large compared with the driving factors? How does convergence/divergence influence the preservation of soil features or properties?• Explaining soil heterogeneity: Convergent and divergent pedogenesis imply fundamentally different hypotheses and assumptions (and therefore eventually different conclusions and interpretations) about variation of soils in space and over time.