紅土泛指紅顏色土壤，為第四紀研究中重要的研究對象與課題，本研究以文獻回顧的方式探討臺灣近年紅土研究的現況與成果，特著重在紅土之分類、母質來源與成因。結果顯示，紅土分類標準不一，分類系統間缺乏良好的對比機制，使得跨領域研究者難以進行對話；其次，紅土母質來源多樣，涉及地表作用、氣候波動等古氣候變遷。最後，針對紅土的化育作用與化育時間，迄今尚未有定論，實需在不同地形、母質、氣候等因子之地區，探討不同成土環境下，紅土之定年與化育時間序列，並比較各區化育過程之異同，以釐清紅土的化育模式。

Red soil (earth) is a folk term meaning soils with red color. Red soil is a vital issue in Quaternary research. This work reviews recent research of the red soil in Taiwan, emphasizing the classifications, origins and evolution of the red soil. The study suggests that researchers in Taiwan employ several classification systems based on the purposes of the research. However, no correlation between those classification systems has been proposed yet. Second, the provenances of the red soils were ploygenic, intead of monogenic; this is attributed to geomorphic processes, climatic fluctuation and environmental changes. Furthermore, hypotheses about evolutionary processes and developmental time of the red soils are still controversial. Additional dating information and contructed chronosequences for the red soils are necessary.