Properties and regimes of vertisols with gilgai microtopography (a review)

Data on the morphology and spatial distribution of slickensides and cracks, particle-size distribution, the organic carbon content, the content and forms of carbonate concentrations, and physical and physicochemical properties of Vertisols with the gilgai microtopography are systematized. Relatively scarce information on the functioning regimes of gilgai soil complexes (their temperature and moisture conditions, redox potential, vertical and horizontal deformations, and soil density changes) is discussed. Common properties of gilgai soils are the clayey texture of their profiles and the high portion of smectitic minerals specifying the high shrink–swell capacity of the soil material. The most important specificity of soils with the gilgai microtopography is a significant horizontal differentiation of the soil profiles with alternation of bowl-shaped morphostructures with a thick dark layer without carbonates in microlows and diapiric morphostructures composed of the rising material of the lower layers with diverse carbonate concentrations on microhighs. Data on the spatial distribution of soil properties within the gilgai microcatenas can be applied in the studies of the genesis and evolution stages of the gilgai soil complexes.     

The genesis of vertisols with gilgai microtopography: A review

Different hypotheses about the genesis of gilgai microtopography and corresponding soil complexes with clayey swelling soils are considered in this review. Their diversity is stipulated by specificities of the objects themselves and by the history of studies of the composition, properties, regimes, and landscape conditions of the areas with Vertisols in different countries. Most of the hypotheses about the genesis of Vertisols with the gilgai microtopography suggest that strong swelling–shrinking processes take place in these soils in the course of moistening–drying cycles; the origin of shear stress in the soils, its spatial patterns, and the particular ways of translocation of the soil material are discussed. At the early stage of Vertisol studies, a hypothesis about the leading role of the process of “self-swallowing” of the soils as a result of filling of open cracks with the material from the upper soil horizons was popular. However, numerous facts suggest that the intensity of this process is relatively low, so that it cannot play the major role in the gilgai formation and cyclic changes in the thickness and properties of the soil horizons in Vertisols. Another important mechanism is the uneven moistening and drying of the whole soil volume resulting in the irregular distribution of inner tensions in the soil with the development of shear stress and plastic deformation of the soil mass. The hypotheses suggested in the recent decades are based on the models of soil mechanics. A number of hypotheses consider possible alternation and duration of evolutionary stages of the development of Vertisols with the gilgai microtopography.     

Transformation of humus substances in the long-drained surface-gleyed soddy-podzolic soils under conditions of pronounced microrelief and different agrogenic loads

The transformation of humus substances resulting from artificial drainage of the surface-gleyed soddy-podzolic soils under conditions of pronounced microtopography and different agrogenic loads was studied. The studied soil characteristics included acid–base conditions, the content and group composition of humus, the ratios between the fractions of humus acids, and optical density of humic acids. The features attesting to humus degradation were found in the soils of microdepressions periodically subjected to excessive surface moistening, in the soils of different landforms upon the construction of drainage trenches, and in the plowed non-fertilized soils. The response of humus characteristics to the changes in the ecological situation in the period of active application of agrochemicals for reclamation of the agrotechnogenically disturbed soils was traced. It was shown that the long-term dynamics of the particular parameters of the biological productivity of the soil depend on the hydrological and agrogenic factors, as well as on the weather conditions.     

Properties and functioning of arable soils of the paleocryogenic soil complex in the Vladimir opolie region

In agrolandscapes of the Vladimir opolie region, the ancient paleocryogenic microtopography is completely buried. However, the pattern of the paleocryogenic soil complex can be deduced from data on the humus content in the plow layer. Under conditions of a leveled surface microtopography, regular differences in the temperature and moisture of soils with different morphologies of their profile are observed; they are explained by the differences in the properties of particular genetic horizons. It is supposed that differences in the regimes of functioning of modern soils of the complex favor the preservation of the relict soilscape.     

Structural analysis and mechanical origins of gilgai at Boorook,Victoria, Australia

Gilgai microrelief at an undisturbed site is described. Surface and subsurface structural patterns in a duplex soil (solodic planosol) are analysed using principles and techniques adapted from structural geology. The microrelief is situated on a gently dipping regional slope and some mounds show evidence of surface erosion. Large cracks on the ground surface have an orientational relationship with the strike and dip of the regional slope. Some of the surface cracks may post-date the original time of gilgai formation. Beneath the microrelief surface a lenticular gravel layer of sedimentary origin is folded into a series of anticlines and synclines. Compositional layers also have fold-like geometries. Two-dimensional crack pattern analysis on a vertical section through several mounds, revealed upwards fan-like and concentric-convex patterns, where upwards movement had occurred. Three-dimensional measurements were made on monoliths and on an undisturbed block sample. The mean slickensided shear plane dip below a mound is 43° (standard deviation 9°). There is a statistical decrease in shear plane dip with depth, which is in partial agreement with soil mechanics theory. Shear planes are distributed from 0.3 m below ground surface down to a projected limit of 1.3 m to 1.8 m which is shallower than the limits reported for slickensided cracks in non-gilgai soils of Israel. The mechanism proposed to explain the surface and subsurface structures involves moisture concentrations that focus near, and below pre-gilgai surface cracks and a gravel lens. The moisture interacts with a swelling component and a triaxial state of stress is achieved. Differences between lateral and vertical stresses due to swelling pressures and overburden loads are sufficient to cause small, inclined shear displacements in definable depth zones. Accumulations of vertical movement components arising from the shear displacements, and vertical sliding of blocky non-sheared units nearer the ground surface, cause the gilgai microrelief and fold-like deformations in the soil profile. Zones of possible downward movement are located at the margins of mounds. Mechanical models proposed in the past are assessed in the light of the Boorook findings. Some proposals appear to be mechanically unlikely for the Boorook gilgai.     

Soils of paleocryogenic hummocky-hollow landscapes in the southern Baikal region

The features of ancient periglacial phenomena are widespread in landscapes lying beyond the modern permafrost zone. The specificity of the paleogeographic conditions in the south of the Baikal region resulted in the formation of paleocryogenic landscapes with hummocky-hollow landforms. The paleocryogenic mounds (hummocks) are of rounded or elongated shape, their height is up to 2–3 m, and their width is up to 20–25 m. They are separated by microlows (hollows). This paleocryogenic microtopography favors the differentiation of the pedogenesis on the mounds and in the hollows, so the soil cover pattern becomes more complicated. It is composed of polychronous soils organized in complexes with cyclic patterns. Light gray and gray forest soils and leached and ordinary chernozems are developed on the mounds; gray and dark gray forest soils and chernozems with buried horizons are developed in the hollows. The soils of the paleocryogenic complexes differ from one another in their morphology, physical and chemical properties, elemental composition, and humus composition. For the first time, radiocarbon dates have been obtained for the surface and buried humus horizons in the hollows. The results prove the heterochronous nature of the soils of the paleocryogenic landscapes in the south of the Baikal region.     

Micromorphology, submicroscopy and microprobe study of carbonate pedofeatures in a Vertisol gilgai soil complex, South Russia

Carbonate nodules and soft masses were studied in a gilgai soil complex in the North Caucasus, South Russia. Microrelief with an amplitude about 30 cm resulted in a wetter environment with stronger leaching in the microlow and a drier pedoenvironment with carbonate accumulation in the microhigh. Various macroforms of carbonate nodules and soft masses were identified in soil pits and sampled for micromorphology, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and microprobe analyses to better characterize them and elucidate their pedogenesis. Common and unique attributes were described for carbonate pedofeatures depending on loci in gilgai soil complex. The most probable hypothesis for their formation is as follows. Nodules represent early pedogenic products that were initiated before gilgai formation. Modern hydrology resulted in variability of dissolution/recrystallization of the nodules along the gilgai microtopography. The variability in degree of impregnation, aggregation into pellets, and presence of hard nodular cores reflects several generations of soft masses.     

微地形下紫色土的矿物组成和pH的耦合特征

为了研究微地形下紫色土的矿物组成和土壤酸度之间的关系,采集了重庆合川丘陵地区典型的紫色土壤,通过电渗析模拟酸化,并通过X射线衍射光谱分析电渗析前后的矿物组成以及酸度变化。结果表明:不同地形部位的紫色土随着地形部位的降低,土壤原生矿物的比重逐渐降低,土壤的发育程度越来越高。紫色母岩及其发育的土壤pH大小关系为母岩石骨子土半沙半泥土豆瓣泥。pH变化与土壤中的方解石、钠长石和钾长石等矿物的含量有紧密关系。电渗析模拟土壤酸化后发现,石骨子土和半沙半泥土的pH分别降低了4.3,3.8个单位,同时土壤原生矿物分解风化,表明土壤原生矿物(如长石类矿物)可以缓冲土壤的酸化。     

Morphology,Radiocarbon Age,and Genesis of Vertisols of the Eisk Peninsula (the Kuban–Azov Lowland)

Data on the morphology and radiocarbon ages of humus of dark vertic quasigley nonsaline clayey soils with alternating bowl-shaped (Pellic Vertisols (Humic, Stagnic)) and diapiric (Haplic Vertisols (Stagnic, Protocalcic)) structures are discussed, and the genetic concept for these soils is suggested. The studied soils develop on loesslike medium clay in the bottom of a large closed depression on the Eisk Peninsula in the lowest western part of the Kuban–Azov Lowland. The lateral and vertical distribution of humus in the studied gilgai catena displays a lateral transition of a relatively short humus profile of the accumulative type with a maximum near the surface and with a sharp increase in ¹⁴C dates of humus in the deeper layers within the diapiric structure to the extremely deep humus profile with a maximum at the depth of 40–80 cm, with similar mean residence time of carbon within this maximum, and with a three times slower increase in ¹⁴C dates of humus down the profile within the bowl-shaped structure. The development of the gilgai soil combination is specified by the joint action of the lateral–upward squeezing of the material of the lower horizons from the nodes with an increased horizontal stress toward the zones a decreased horizontal stress, local erosional loss of soil material from the microhighs and its accumulation in the adjacent microlows, leaching of carbonates from the humus horizons in the microlows, and the vertical and lateral ascending capillary migration of the soil solutions with precipitation of calcium carbonates in the soils of microhighs.     

Biological activity of chernozem on different elements of microtopography

A pedogenetic stratification of the physicochemical and biological properties has been studied in the profiles of chernozemic soils on different elements of the paleocryogenic microtopography under a shelterbelt within the Kamennaya Steppe Reserve. The biological activity of soil samples was determined in laboratory from the amount of CO₂ produced by the soil upon its incubation. It is shown that the soil properties vary considerably both in the vertical (along the soil profile) and horizontal (along the elements of the microtopography) directions. The methods of correlation and factor analyses have been applied to group the soil properties according to the three major factors and to study the relationships between these groups. A quantitative assessment of the particular factors of soil formation under given pedoclimatic conditions is suggested. The dominant role belongs to the biological factor (50% of the total factor load). This factor is reflected in the soil properties with the maximum degree of differentiation in the soil profile. The paleocryogenic microtopography (17% of the total factor load) specifies the differentiation of soil acidity and the content of carbonates.     

北京土石山区坡面土壤水分动态及其对微地形的响应

为了探讨不同微地形下坡面土壤水分的时空分布及其变异规律,以北京土石山区人工林坡面为研究对象,在40 m×50 m坡面共布设30个土壤水分观测点,分10 cm间隔观测,观测深度为50~70 cm。2015年4—10月使用Diviner 2000共监测土壤水分20次。结果表明:(1)坡地土壤水分含量时间变化趋势一致,大体随着降雨波动的变化而变化。(2)土壤水分随坡位变化而变化,水平阶上坡位＜中坡位,缓坡中坡位＜下坡位。(3)坡面土壤水分整体随深度的增加而增加,水土保持工程措施可有效改善土壤水分状况,微地形主要影响＞30 cm的土层,不同微地形土壤水分含量表现为水平阶＞缓坡＞陡坡＞陡坎,水平阶土壤水分显著高于其他微地形(P＜0.05)。(4)冗余分析结果显示,微地形是影响坡面土壤水分异质性的主控因素,相对贡献率达81.2%,微地形因素减弱了海拔和坡位对土壤水分含量的影响。该研究可为土石山区生态恢复对水文水资源影响评估提供科学依据。     

Soils of loamy watersheds of coastal tundra in the north of Yakutia: Pedogenetic conditions and processes

This paper considers regularities governing the formation of automorphic tundra soils on glacial loamy deposits containing relict organic matter mainly represented by very fine plant detritus. Drainage, microtopography, and cryoturbation activity are the major controls of the development of these soils. With an increase in drainage, the following pedogenetic trend is observed on the surface of yedoma (Ice Сomplex) areas: gleyzem–cryozem–cryometamorphic soil. The climate change in the Holocene induced quick transformation of topography and general landscape situation and promoted formation and development of cryogenic soil complexes in the considered territory. Upon the low intensity of pedogenesis, the features and properties of previous soil formation stages are often preserved in the soil profiles; these are: gleyzation, peat accumulation, and cryoturbation.     

The effect of digging activity of little souslik on soils of the first terrace of Khaki Sor in the Botkul’sk-Khaki depression

The effect of digging activity of little souslik (Spermophilus pygmaeus Pall.) on the microtopography and soils was studied in the areas with shallow saline groundwater developing under continental conditions for 10.5–12.7 ka. The portion of microtopographic features related to the digging activity was quantified. It was found that the micromounds formed by sousliks appear on recently dried surfaces with shallow saline groundwater. However, their portion in this case is less than 3% because of the poor vegetation and shallow groundwater. Then, with the lowering of the base of erosion and aging of the territory, the zoogenic effect becomes more pronounced. On the first terrace of Khaki Sor (salt lake), the digging activity of sousliks creates the initial heterogeneity of soils and vegetation. The soil cover is composed of the virgin quasigleyed solonchakous solonetzes under the Atriplex-Artemisia santonica association (Gypsic Salic Solonetz (Albic, Ruptic, Oxiaquic, Siltic)) and of the zooturbated solonetzes under the Artemisia santonica-A. lerchiana association (Endosalic Hypogypsic Gypsisol (Sodic, Siltic, Novic)). A comparative analysis of morphology and some chemical properties of virgin and zooturbated soils is given. The soils of souslik-made mounds are strongly mixed, and the structure of their horizons is completely disturbed. They are characterized by an increased total content of salts mainly due to gypsum accumulation. At the same time, the content of toxic salts in the soil profile remains rather high because of their ascending migration from the strongly saline groundwater. On the first terrace, the process of zoogenic amelioration of solonetzes by sousliks is limited and does not affect deep soil layers.     

Genesis,hydrology, and properties of soils in mesodepressions waterlogged by surface water in the northern Ryazan forest-steppe

On the interfluves and in small depressions of the Ryazan forest-steppe, under periodic stagnation of surface water, acid chernozem-like soils with a relatively thick humus horizon, podzolic horizons, and marble-colored gleyed B1 and B2 horizons are formed. The eluvial horizons of these soils contain Mn-Fe nodules, and dark humus coatings occur in the illuvial horizons. In the spring, the eluvial horizons of these soils are excessively moistened and gravitational water stagnates on the soil surface for 3–4 weeks. The formation of the acid light-colored eluvial horizons of the soils on leached rocks is related to gleying under the conditions of the stagnant-percolative regime. Their total thickness is 15–25 cm and more. According to the properties of their solid phase, these horizons are similar to the podzolic horizons of soddy-podzolic gleyed soils. These soils have not been represented in the classification systems of soils of the USSR and Russia. Based on the principles of the substantial-genetic classification, one of the authors of this article [9] referred this soil to gleyed podzolic chernozem-like soils, thus, considering it as an individual genetic soil type. The gleyed podzolic chernozem-like soils differ from the leached chernozems by their low productivity and difficulty of tillage. In humid and moderately moist years, the death of crops or a reduction in yield are probable because of the excess of moisture.     

Assessing air-drying and rewetting pre-treatment effect on some soil enzyme activities under Mediterranean conditions

Soil enzyme activities are useful indicators of soil quality as they are very sensitive to disturbance. Sample storage or pre-treatments could affect the results in these assays, which are normally determined in fresh samples, kept cold or frozen. The objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate the effect of air-drying or air-drying and rewetting on β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase and urease activities in soils from different locations, degradation status and sampling seasons, and (ii) assess if air-drying or air-drying and rewetting is an accurate sample storage and pre-treatment procedure for enzyme activities in soil quality evaluations under semiarid Mediterranean conditions. Our results showed that urease, phosphatase and β-glucosidase activities were hardly affected by air-drying of degraded and non-degraded soils from the two locations studied in all seasons. Short incubations (4, 8 and 12 d at 23 °C) of rewetted air-dried soil at 55% of water-holding capacity showed different patterns depending on the enzyme studied. Urease and β-glucosidase activities were relatively stable during incubation, with several significant (P<0.05) shifts up and down in some soils and samplings. However, acid phosphatase showed an increase in activity with incubation, of between 5% and 50% relative to air-dried samples. These increases followed no pattern and were unrelated to soil characteristics or sampling date. Hence, urease, phosphatase and β-glucosidase activities determined in air-dried soil samples seem to be representative of those obtained under field-moist conditions. In contrast, short incubations of rewetted soil samples can produce fluctuations in these enzyme activities, mainly of acid phosphatase, and estimations in these conditions are not so representative of field-moist soil values.     

Effect of paleocryogenesis on the soil cover pattern and properties of chernozems in the Kamennaya Steppe Reserve

The paleocryogenic genesis of a polygonal-blocky microrelief is substantiated. This microrelief was formed at the end of Late Pleistocene and is preserved in the buried state; it is also pronounced in the surface microtopography. The modern development of chernozems is greatly influenced by the paleocryogenic microtopography, as the profiles of chernozems developed on elevated polygons, their slopes, and within interpolygonal microdepressions clearly differ from one another in their morphology, horizonation, and functioning. These differences are sufficient to subdivide the corresponding soils at the subtype level. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the early (paleocryogenic) stages of the development of chernozems and the study of modern soil functioning with due account for the effect of paleocryogenic phenomena have been performed for the first time.     

An experimental study of crust development on chalk downland soils and their impact on runoff and erosion

The sealing of soil surfaces by rainfall, the development of soil crusts and their impact on runoff and erosion was investigated in the laboratory by means of simulated rainfall. The soils investigated were stone-free samples of chalk soils from southeast England, and soils with a 25% cover of stones. Vertical change to the surface and immediate subsurface of the soils was assessed through the examination of thin sections scanned into a computer and analysed with image processing software. Changes in roughness and microtopography of the soil surface were measured by use of a laser micromapper. Crusting occurred both in the presence and absence of stones and was inversely related to the organic matter content and aggregate stability of the soils. Crusting of stone-free soils was accompanied by a reduction in roughness of the soil surface, but roughness of the stone-covered surfaces increased as crusting developed. Increases in the particle density of the crust were related to silt content. Organic-rich soil from under permanent grass and from a soil recently brought into arable cultivation crusted less than soils used for arable cultivation for longer periods with lower organic content. The inwashing of silt into the pores of the soil during crusting reduces infiltration, and increases runoff and erosion. In the presence of a 25% cover of surface stones, the reduction in infiltration was 25% less than for stone-free soils and erosion ∼50% less.     

Soil erosion and hydrological response to land abandonment in a central inland area of Portugal

This paper analyses the effects of land abandonment on runoff and sediment yield in a central inland area of Portugal. Rainfall simulation experiments were performed in areas of traditional land use (land cultivated with cereals) with various types of soil plant cover associated with the period of abandonment (4–5 years, 15–20 years and 30–40 years) in two different seasons, namely under very dry conditions and after a long wet period. Statistical analysis showed a notable difference between the cultivated soils and those abandoned for a long period of time, which included appreciable vegetation recovery, higher organic matter content and negligible overland flow and soil loss. Cereal cultivation, in particular ploughing, is a very negative land management practice, due to the high runoff and soil loss. Within 4–5 years a crust develops over abandoned soils with sparse herbaceous plant cover, particularly after a dry season, which enhances runoff and sediment yield. In scrubland and oak plots, although marked water repellency was registered at the end of a dry, warm season, its influence seems to be irrelevant in terms of overland flow and erosion yield. The major factor in controlling overland flow and reducing soil erosion rates appears to be the role played by vegetation in protecting the soil surface and supplying organic carbon to the top layer. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface and subsurface microbial biomass, community structure and metabolic activity as a function of soil depth and season

Microbial biomass, size and community structure along with an estimate of microbial activity and soil chemical parameters were determined at three depths in two soils (e.g. sandy loam Ultic Hapludalf and silt loam Mollic Hapludalf) replicated three times under one winter and summer season. Microbial biomass and community structure were estimated from phospholipid-PO₄ content and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) measurements. Microbial activity and assimilative capacity were estimated using a ³H-acetate incorporation into phospholipids and by incubating the soil samples at the average winter and summer temperatures, 3 and 20 °C, respectively. We found that the size of the microbial biomass in both the surface and the subsurface soils was not significantly affected by the seasonal variation but activity increased by as much as 83% at the summer temperatures in the surface soil. We demonstrated using FAME analysis that for both soils seasonal changes in the subsurface microbial community occurred. These findings suggest that winter conditions will shift the population activity level in both the surface and subsurface systems and the biochemical structure of the community in the subsurface. In all cases, the inorganic chemical properties of the soil, as a function of season, remained constant. The greatly increased activity of microbial population at the higher temperature will favor the capacity of the system to utilize nutrients or organic materials that may enter soil. During low temperature seasons the capacity of either surface or subsurface soils to assimilate materials is generally diminished but the reduction reflects changes in metabolism and not a reduced biomass size.