Relationships between soil properties and morphometric parameters of depressions in clayey semidesert of the trans-volga region

The relationships between the morphometric parameters (area and depth) of microdepressions calculated using several methods and the properties of soils (the thickness of humus horizons and the depth of effervescence) forming on plots with different types of microrelief were assessed. The boundaries of the depressions determined by different methods (using microrelief and vegetation maps) do not coincide, and the mapping units and depressions have different areas. The tightest correlation was found between the soil properties and the parameters of the depressions calculated using the vegetation map for the territories with the flat type of microrelief, where the depressions are the largest (> 70 m²) and the deepest. In smaller depressions within the elevated radial-dome-shaped type of microrelief, the properties of the soils in the depressions are determined not only by the size of the depressions but also by other factors, such as the catchment area, the age of the depression, its position relative to other depressions, and the general stability of the territory.