Evolution of forest pedogenesis in the south of the forest-steppe of the Central Russian Upland in the Late Holocene

The Late Holocene stage of forest pedogenesis has been studied on the interfluves along river valleys in the forest-steppe zone of the Central Russian Upland. The development of gray forest soils from the former chernozems as a result of the Late Holocene advance of forest vegetation over steppes is discussed. It is argued that the climatic conditions of the Subatlantic period were unstable, so that multiple alternation of forest and steppe vegetation communities took place. This specified a complex character of soil evolution upon contrasting substitution of forest pedogenesis for steppe pedogenesis. On the interfluves near the natural drainage network (balkas, ravines, and steep slopes of river valleys), the climate-driven dynamics of forest and steppe vegetation with corresponding changes in the character of pedogenesis could take place during the entire Holocene, which is reflected in a lower thickness of humus profiles and deeper leaching of carbonates from chernozems of the Early Iron Age in comparison with their analogues formed under steppe cenoses in central parts of the interfluves. Two variants of the evolution of gray forest soils can be suggested: the pulsating evolution typical of balkas and interfluves near river valleys and the continuous progressive evolution typical of automorphic (plakor) positions in central parts of the interfluves.     

The regularities of the late Holocene soil formation in the lower don steppes

The direction and stages of pedogenesis, rate and scales of changeability, and type of evolution of chernozems in the steppes of the Lower Don are ascertained by studying the archaeological monuments of the Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, and Middle Ages. It is shown that the soil formation process was characterized by cyclicity, and evolutional soil transformations took place at the level of subtype. The paper ascertains the polygenetic character of modern chernozems, whose evolution during the second half of the Holocene was predominantly low-contrast, inheriting, and transforming. The processes forming the humus, salt, gypsum, and carbonate profiles, as well as the processes of solonetzization-desolonetzization, were the most dynamic. The fundamental differences in the genesis of different parts of the humus profile are revealed. The role of climatically pulsing solonetzicity in forming the specific Azov chernozems is for the first time ascertained.     

The development of chernozems on the Dniester-Prut interfluve in the Holocene

The development of forest-steppe and steppe chernozems on the Dniester-Prut interfluve in the Holocene was studied on the basis of data on the paleosols buried under archaeological monuments of different ages. The parameters of the mathematic models of the development of the soil humus horizons in different subtypes of chernozems were calculated. They were used to determine the rate of this process and the age of the soils formed on the surface of Trajan’s lower rampart. The climate-controlled changes in the character of the soil’s development in the Late Holocene were differently pronounced in the different subtypes of chernozems. The suggested differentiation of the trends in the development of the humus horizon in the studied chernozems corresponds to the differences in the soil-forming potential of particular areas (as judged from the energy consumption for pedogenesis).     

The influence of climate cycles on the water regime and carbonate profile in chernozems of Central European Russia and adjacent territories

The influence of long-term “dry” and “wet” climatic cycles on the water regime, hydrological parameters, and carbonate profiles of chernozems in Central European Russia and adjacent territories was studied. The hydrological and carbonate profiles were found to change during the wet cycle. However, the upper part of the hydrological profile is basically unchanging, whereas in its lower part, the number of hydrological horizons and contrast in their moistening decrease in the forest-steppe chernozems and increase in the steppe chernozems. The frequency of through wetting of chernozems increases during the wet cycles. The vertical lithological heterogeneity of the parent material affects the soil moisture status. In the wet climatic cycle, the moisture content above the lithological contact increases resulting in the development of the features of soil hydromorphism. In the carbonate profile, the character of pedofeatures is changing: some carbonate neoformations disappear, while the other ones develop. Possible variations of the periodically percolative water regime were revealed in chernozems. The classification of water regime proposed by A.A. Rode may be updated based on the data obtained during the dry climatic cycle. Rode’s hypothesis about cyclic variations in the soil water regime is confirmed.     

Holocene evolution of floodplain soils and landscapes in the Kulikovo field area

The lithostratigraphic, radiocarbon, macro- and micromorphological, particle-size, and other analyses have been applied to reconstruct the Holocene evolution of soils and landscapes on the high- and mediumlevel floodplains of the Nepryadva River in the Kulikovo field area. It is shown that the soils buried within the thickness of alluvial sediments on the high- and medium-level floodplains were formed in different times and had their own evolution patterns; the polygenetic nature of these soils is demonstrated. The development of floodplain landscapes in the Holocene was affected by the long-term climatic fluctuations. The bed of the high floodplain was formed during the Late Valdai glacial stage. The beginning of the development of an intricate sequence of buried soils and sediments of the floodplain dates back to the Boreal period. This pedosedimentary sequence in the studied area can be referred to as the Kulikovo sequence. In the course of its formation, the pedogenic stages with a predominant development of soils alternated with the lithogenic stages of active alluviation and deposition of colluvial deposits from adjacent slopes on the floodplain.     

Genesis and age of mineralogical profiles of Moldavian chernozems

In chernozems developed in the autonomous positions in Moldova, the mineralogy of their silicate component has some features indicative of stronger transformations than those that could be expected for the chernozems formed by the Holocene pedogenesis. The mineralogical profiles testify to the eluvial nature of the main subtypes of chernozems. It is suggested that the revealed changes are not due to the Holocene pedogenesis. According to the probable age of the mineralogical profiles calculated from the volumes of aluminosilicates removed, these profiles originated in the early and middle Late Pleistocene, i.e., about 50 000–120 000 years ago. The effect of forest pedogenesis in the past epochs on the mineralogy of the northern subtypes of chernozems also cannot be excluded. The presented data characterize the chernozems under study as polygenetic soil formations.     

Impact of weather anomalies in recent decades on the water regime of typical chernozems of the reserved steppe area in Kursk oblast

The analysis of long-term weather records and data on the water budget in a 3-m-deep layer of typical chernozems in the reserved steppe area has shown considerable changes in the soil hydrological regime under the impact of climatic fluctuations. In the past 34 years, the warm season has become more humid and the cold season has become warmer in comparison with the climatic norm. These changes have been accompanied by the settling of trees and shrubs on the reserved steppe territory; more frequent cases of water percolation throughout the entire profile of chernozems owing to the increased accumulation of water reserves in the fall, winter, and spring seasons; less active evapotranspiration of soil water during the growing season; and the smaller deficit of soil water in the fall. In general, the chernozems have become better moistened, which has led to certain changes in their genetic features.     

Soil development on the Crimean Peninsula in the Late Holocene

The study of soils of different ages in different physiographic regions of the Crimean Peninsula made it possible to reveal the main regularities of pedogenesis in the Late Holocene (in the past 2800 years). With respect to the average rate of the development of soil humus horizons, the main types of soils in the studied region were arranged into the following sequence: southern chernozems and dark chestnut soils > mountainous forest brown soils > gravelly cinnamonic soils. In the newly formed soils, the accumulation of humus developed at a higher rate than the increase in the thickness of humus horizons. A sharp decrease in the rates of development of soil humus profiles and humus accumulation took place in the soils with the age of 1100-1200 years. The possibility for assessing the impact of climate changes on the pedogenetic process on the basis of instrumental meteorological data was shown. The potential centennial fluctuations of the climate in the Holocene determined the possibility of pulsating shifts of soil-geographic subzones within the steppe part of the Crimea with considerable changes in the rates of the development of soil humus horizons in comparison with those in the Late Holocene.     

Changes in the content and quality of humus in leached chernozems of the Trans-Ural forest-steppe zone under the impact of their agricultural use

The results of long-term studies of changes in the content and fractional-group composition of humus in leached chernozems (Luvic Voronic Chernozems, WRB 2006) of the Trans-Ural forest-steppe since the beginning of their plowing are considered. These soils are characterized by the high humus pool (up to 500 t/ha in the virgin state and up to 430 t/ha in the plowed state) and the high degree of the organic matter humification. Humus is of the fulvate–humate type in the upper 30 cm and of the humate–fulvate type in the deeper layers. From 1968 to 2006, the total pool of humus in the 1-m-deep soil layer of the plowed chernozems decreased by 8.5% in comparison with the initial virgin soils. The rate of dehumification reached 1.0–1.4 t/ha per year. The long-term plowing of leached chernozems also led to a smaller content of nitrogen in the organic matter (the C/N ratio increased from 11.5 to 13.6). The relative content of free humic acids (HA-1) and humic acids bound to clay minerals (HA-3) increased, whereas the content of calcium humates (HA-2) decreased. The composition of fulvic acids in the plow horizon was characterized by the rise in the content of aggressive (FA-1a) and mobile (FA-1) fractions, while the amount of fulvates bound to calcium (FA-2) decreased.     

Modeling of the evolution of steppe chernozems and development of the method of pedogenetic chronology

Geoarchaeological methods were used to study chronosequences of surface soils in the steppe zone and to trace soil evolution during the Late Holocene in northwestern Crimea. It was found that the morphological and functional “maturity” of the humus horizons in steppe chernozems of the Late Holocene was reached in about 1600–1800 yrs. After this, their development decelerated irreversibly. The maximum concentration of trace elements accumulated in these horizons in the course of pedogenesis was reached in 1400 yrs. A new method of pedogenetic chronology based on the model chronofunction of the development of irreversible results of pedogenesis over time is suggested. Original pedochronological data and growth functions—the most suitable models for simulating pedogenesis over the past three thousand years—suggest that the development of morphological features of soil as an organomineral natural body follows growth patterns established for biological systems.     

山东中部全新世环境演变与人类文化发展

全新世环境演变及其气候事件对古文化发展的影响是目前环境考古研究的热点。根据山东中部龙山镇山城村全新世黄土-古土壤及埋藏文化层的关系,利用色度、磁化率、粒度、碳酸钙含量等气候替代指标,揭示了全新世气候演变,早期(11500 a B.P.～8500 a B.P.)变暖,中期暖湿(8500 a B.P.～3100 a B.P.)和后期(3100 a B.P.以来)逐渐转凉,其中大暖期记录了3次气候寒冷事件。通过分析全新世气候阶段性、气候事件与古文化时空的耦合关系发现:在全新世最为暖湿的阶段(8500 aB.P.～4000 a B.P.),依次发展了后李文化、北辛文化、大汶口文化和龙山文化。其中,8200 a B.P.、5500 a B.P.气候事件没有对文化发展产生明显负面影响,反而对文化发展起了一定催化剂的作用。4000 a B.P.气候事件在剖面中表现明显,来自北部、东北部的大量风沙使淄博、潍坊等地龙山人的生存环境急剧恶化,进而使喜暖湿的稻作农业受到极大摧毁,人地资源矛盾突出,导致优秀的龙山文化被古朴的岳石文化所取代。     

Humus pedorelicts in soddy calcareous soils of the Vyatka-Kama interfluve

A plowed soddy-calcareous soil with relict features developed from Permian clayey calcareous soil was described for the first time in the area of soddy-podzolic and gray forest soils of mixed forests in the middle and lower riches of the Vyatka River. This soil was thoroughly examined by physical, chemical, biochemical, radioisotope, and physicochemical methods. A second humus horizon enriched in calcium humates was described in this soil. Its age was determined at about 7200 yrs. This horizon attests to the presence of in situ postcarbonate pedorelicts in the soil cover of the eastern Russian Plain. The studied soil was formed during the Atlantic optimum of the Holocene under conditions more favorable to humus-accumulative processes as compared with those during the subsequent period. The soil evolution in the second part of the Holocene was characterized by the partial preservation of the previously formed features with the development of eluviation features under colder and wetter climatic conditions. This intrazonal soil is genetically close to gray forest and soddy-podzolic soils with residual second humus horizons that are widespread on the Vyatka-Kama interfluve. The evolution of the latter soils in the second part of the Holocene has been driven by eluviation processes that gradually eliminate the features of the second humus horizon from the soil profiles.     

Biological activity of chernozems in the center of the Russian Plain

Specific features of the microbiological and enzymatic activity of chernozems are considered in genetically associated and technogenic series. The biological processes in chernozems follow the main soil-geographical regularities inherent to the Central Chernozemic region. The biological characteristics of the chernozems reflect the dynamic properties of the microorganisms habitat and are indicators of their technogenic degradation. Plowing of chernozems and their intense agricultural use is accompanied by changes in their biological activity. The disturbances revealed in the biosystem of the chernozems caused by plowing and fertilization were of a functional, i.e., reversible character. The changes in the intensity of the biochemical processes in the chernozems were observed only under the long-term application of fertilizers (for not less than 10 years). A single application of fertilizers caused temporary changes.     

Climate and Vegetation Changes over the Past 7000 Years in the Cis-Ural Steppe

A multilayered archaeological site Turganik Settlement in the valley of the Tok River in the Cis- Ural steppe (Orenburg oblast) was examined with the use of paleopedological and microbiomorph methods. Ancient people inhabited this area in the Latest Neolithic (Eneolithic) (5th millennium BC) and Early Bronze (4th millennium BC) ages. It was found that cultural layers dating back to the Atlantic period of the Holocene had been formed under conditions of a predominance of grassy–forb vegetation with a small portion of tree species and dry climate; the ancient settlement was not affected by floods and was suitable for permanent living. It is probable that soils of the chestnut type with salinization and solonetzic features were developed in that time. The final stages of the accumulation of cultural layers were marked by strong shortterm floods, whose sediments partly masked the features of the previous long arid epoch. The highest degree of aridity was at the end of the Atlantic period. In the Subboreal and Subatlantic periods, soils of the meadowchernozemic type were formed; the spore–pollen spectra of these periods are characterized by a higher portion of tree species and by the presence of phytoliths of meadow grasses. The climatic conditions were generally colder and more humid, though some short-term aridization stages could take place. Some of these stages are recorded in the thickness of the studied sediments.     

Moisture regime of typical chernozems under the mown Steppe and plowland of Kursk oblast under the anomalous weather conditions of the last decades

The analysis of long-term (since 1947) data on the water content of the upper 3-m-thick layer in the Streletskaya Steppe chernozems under annual mowing showed that the weather changes during the last decades (from 1972–1973 to 2005–2006) resulted in an increase in the soil wetting depth during the fall-winter-spring period and the frequency of the percolation, a decrease in the water consumption from the 150- to 300-cm layer during the growing season, and a decrease in the water deficit in the fall. Therefore, the total water content of the steppe chernozems increased, although to a significantly lesser degree than that found for the steppe plot with a succession of woody-shrub vegetation. In a perennial fallow, the water content of the soil layer also increased. The water supply of the 0- to 160-cm layer of chernozems under winter wheat and corn underwent no significant changes.     

Anthropogenic evolution of dark gray forest-steppe soils in the southern part of the Central Russian Upland

A sequence of dark gray forest soils developing under a virgin broadleaved forest and under croplands used for 100 and 150 years was studied in the southern part of the forest-steppe zone on the Central Russian Upland. The application of multiple study methods for these objects made it possible to trace the evolutionary changes in the soil properties during the 150-year-long period of regular plowing. Several important trends in the soil development under the impact of the cultivation were revealed: (a) an increase in the thickness of the humus layer (according to the measurements at 20 points for each of the objects), (b) an increase in the amount of mole tunnels, (c) a decrease in the coefficient of the textural differentiation of the soil profile (with respect to the clay content), (d) an increase in the contents and reserves of the major nutrients upon a stable pool of humus in the upper meter, and (e) some alkalization and carbonization of the profile. Powdery accumulations of carbonates and whitish calcareous coatings on the faces of prismatic peds appeared at a depth of more than 130 cm. The plowed soils contained thin deep fissures, the surface of which was covered by dark-colored clayey-humus coatings at the depth of 50–110 cm. The radiocarbon age of the humus in these coatings was 500–1000 years younger than the age of the humus in the soil mass between the fissures. This set of features attests to the evolution of the plowed dark gray forest soils into chernozems under the impact of plowing.     

Soil cover in the southern forest-steppe of the Central Russian Upland against the background of centennial climate fluctuations

Special approaches and algorithms for studying the response of zonal soils and the soil cover of the forest-steppe zone to climate fluctuations were developed on the basis of data of repeated soil surveys. They made it possible to analyze the particular transformations of the soil cover as indicators of short-term climate fluctuations in the southern forest-steppe of the Central Russian Upland. Vector soil maps and related databases on soil polygons were developed using GIS technologies. Changes in the climatic conditions between two rounds of large-scale soil surveys in 1971 and 1991 reflecting the so-called Brückner cycles were identified. A characteristic feature of climate change during that period was the rise in the mean annual air temperature by 0.2°C and an increase in the mean annual precipitation by 83 mm. In response to this change, the area of leached chernozems (Luvic Chernozems) on the interfluves somewhat increased, whereas the area of typical chernozems (Haplic Chernozems) decreased.     

The humus state of the soils of locally hydromorphic landscapes in the lower reaches of the don river

The humus state of rainfed chernozems affected by local waterlogging was studied. The total humus content in the hydromorphic chernozems increases, as well as the content of fulvic acids, whereas the content of nonhydrolyzable residue (humin) decreases. A significant increase in the portions of the third fractions of humic and fulvic acids is observed. The role of the fine silt and clay fractions in the binding of humic substances increases in the lower horizons of locally hydromorphic soils. The increase in the content of fulvic acids (fulvatization) is mainly due to their predominance in the clay fraction. The latter is specified by the significant narrowing of the C_ha-to-C_fa ratio, the lower content of the nonhydrolyzable residue, and the increased content of the clay-bound (3rd fraction) fulvic and humic acids. The composition of the humus in the fine silt fraction of the studied soils is characterized by an increased amount of humic acids of the second fraction with a decrease in the relative content of fulvic acids.     

Specific features of water permeability in virgin and cultivated chernozems

The tendency and type of quantitative changes in the main characteristics of the water permeability of automorphic (typical and ordinary) chernozems in the central part of the Russian Plain have been studied in the system of virgin soil (long-term fallow), rainfed plowland, and irrigated plowland. It is shown that irrigation exerts the most pronounced adverse effect on the water permeability of chernozems. The revealed causes of unfavorable changes in the water permeability of chernozems in the region are related to their agricultural use.     

Soils of cryogenic subarid steppe landscapes in the Terekhol intermontane Depression of the Sangilen Upland

The soil cover of the Terekhol intermontane Depression in the Tyva Region is poorly studied. The data obtained in the 1950s do not reflect the real genetic diversity of soils and their specific character. According to these data, the soil cover was dominated by meadow-chernozemic soils under virgin steppe-like meadows. The investigations of 2007–2009 show that the disperse-carbonate chernozems, which are often solonetzic and weakly saline; the specific polygenetic dark soda solonchaks-solonetzes; and the postagrogenic chernozems, solonetzes, and agrozems are the main components of the soil cover of the depression at the present time. The described chernozems correspond mainly to the central image of southern Siberia chernozems. The investigated solonetzes are characterized by a number of evolution-genetic features that distinguish them from previously described solonetzes of Tyva and from all the solonetzic soils in the current interpretation. The chernozems and solonetzes have cryogenic features due to the cold extremely continental climate and relatively shallow continuous permafrost.