Soils of the Bol’shoi Zayatskii Island

Soils of the Bol’shoi Zayatskii Island of the Solovki Archipelago (the White Sea) have been studied. Data on the morphology and properties of these soils are presented. The genesis and evolution of the soils as related to the glacioisostatic uplift of the island in the Holocene are discussed.     

Morphology and properties of the soils of permafrost peatlands in the southeast of the Bol’shezemel’skaya tundra

The morphology and properties of the soils of permafrost peatlands in the southeast of the Bol’shezemel’skaya tundra are characterized. The soils developing in the areas of barren peat circles differ from oligotrophic permafrost-affected peat soils (Cryic Histosols) of vegetated peat mounds in a number of morphological and physicochemical parameters. The soils of barren circles are characterized by the wellstructured surface horizons, relatively low exchangeable acidity, and higher rates of decomposition and humification of organic matter. It is shown that the development of barren peat circles on tops of peat mounds is favored by the activation of erosional and cryogenic processes in the topsoil. The role of winter wind erosion in the destruction of the upper peat and litter horizons is demonstrated. A comparative analysis of the temperature regime of soils of vegetated peat mounds and barren peat circles is presented. The soil–geocryological complex of peat mounds is a system consisting of three major layers: seasonally thawing layer–upper permafrost–underlying permafrost. The upper permafrost horizons of peat mounds at the depth of 50–90 cm are morphologically similar to the underlying permafrost. However, these layers differ in their physicochemical properties, especially in the composition and properties of their organic matter.     

The composition of humus in permafrost-affected soils of the Bol’shezemel’skaya and Kolyma tundra areas

Tundra soils (except for the soils of barren circles) in the moderately and extremely continental tundra areas are characterized by the pronounced surface accumulation of humic substances. The humate-fulvate nature of humus is typical of the upper horizons of surface eluvial-gley soils, gley soils, and raw-humus mountainous brown soils; the C ha/C fa ratio in them varies from 0.5 to 0.91. The fulvate-humate nature of humus (C ha/C fa = 1.27–1.50) is typical of cryozems and sandy podburs. The first and the third fractions of humic substances (hs 1 and hs 3) predominate in the composition of humus. The coefficients of correlation (R) between the major parameters of soil humus and the physicochemical characteristics of tundra soils have been calculated. These coefficients between the contents of C org, C ha, C fa, C ha1, and C ha3 and the total acidity are equal to 0.73, 0.76, 0.72, 0.85, and 0.67, respectively; for the exchangeable Mg²⁺, their values are equal to 0.66, 0.88, 0.85, 0.74, and 0.90, respectively; and for the exchangeable Ca²⁺, 0.55, 0.47, 0.39, 0.41, and 0.61, respectively (p < 0.05). The composition of exchangeable cations and the total acidity specify the conditions of fractionation of humic substances in the studied soils. The differentiation of the qualitative composition of humus in the profiles of tundra soils is well pronounced and is mainly controlled by the distribution of clay and fine silt particles.     

Influence of oil and stratal water contamination on the ash composition of oligotrophic peat soils in the oil-production area (the Ob’ region)

The mineral contamination of peat soils in the oil-production area differs considerably in the places of oil or stratal water spills. The time elapsed since the spill occurred is also an important factor of the changes in the chemical composition of the peat ash. The ash content rises drastically in the oil-contaminated peat, and the peat ash becomes rich in heavy metals (Mn, Ni, and Sr) and lanthanides (La and Ce). The content of K and Fe decreases, and that of P, S, Mg, Ca, Ni, and Pb increases with time at the site of old oil contamination. In the course of the self-rehabilitation of oil-contaminated peat, the content of Cl decreases more intensely than that of the heavier halogen Br. The ash content rises to a lesser extent in the peat contaminated with stratal water. The ash of the salinized peat is enriched in heavy alkaline-earth elements, i.e., Ba and Sr. Although most of the elements are leached with time, the content of Ba and Sr still remains 4–6 times higher than the background one even after long-term (more than 10 years) leaching. The concentrations of halogens rise considerably in the salinized peat, that of Cl in the peat ash decreases by 10 times, and the content of Ba virtually remains the same.     

Application of the Weng’s ratio for the identification of Zn, Cu, and Pb contamination in soils and sediments

Purpose

This work explores the application of the use of Zn, Cu, and Pb relative contents as a new type of normalization method for geochemical properties of soils and sediments in an Atlantic Basin (Anllóns River, NW Spain). The method is based on the conservative behavior of these elements, which exhibit a certain concentration ratio that remains stable as long as there are no human disturbances.

Materials and methods

The average relative contents of Zn, Cu, and Pb were calculated by dividing the concentration of each metal in soils or sediments, in the <63-μm fraction, by the sum of Zn, Cu, and Pb, expressed as a percentage. The evaluation of the sum of the average relative concentrations of Zn, Cu, and Pb (Ri), together with three standard deviations for each element, namely, Ri ± 3Si, allows a hexagon to be constructed, represented in ternary diagrams of Zn:Cu:Pb. Following the method proposed by Weng et al. (Environ Geol 45:79–85, 2003), those samples falling outside the hexagon must be considered outliers.

Results and discussion

Results obtained confimed the conservative behavior between the relative contents of Zn, Cu, and Pb in surficial samples (soils, bed, and suspended sediments). Only sediment cores displayed nonconservative behavior, showing a marked Pb enrichment, with respect to the surficial samples. When Zn, Cu, and Pb relative contents were plotted in ternary diagrams, outliers were best classified when the hexagon was drawn with standard deviations of samples from the study area. The hexagon drawn with an international database of soils and sediments showed a poorer classification of outliers.

Conclusions

The results showed that total Zn, Cu, and Pb relative contents may be employed to investigate anthropogenic disturbances of these elements in soils and sediments of the Anllóns River Basin, thus corroborating that this type of normalization may be employed as a tool to assess outliers in a contaminated area.     

Diagnostics of hydromorphism in soils of autonomous positions on the Severo-Sos’vinsk Upland (Western Siberia)

The complex studies of hydromorphism features in taiga weakly differentiated soils using morphological (color), chemical (iron content in different extracts, indicators of reducing conditions (IRIS)), and geobotanic (using the Ramenskii scale) methods have led to ambiguous conclusions. In all the soils, surface gleying was manifested. According to the results obtained by different methods, the maximum reduction processes were related to either the sublitter or the next deeper horizon. The Schwertmann coefficient, the criterion of Bodegom, and the Ramenskii scale indicated an increase of hydromorphism in the soils studied in the following sequence: the lower part of the ridge slopes drained by the small gullies < the middle part of the slopes < the flat tops of the ridges < the depression between the ridges. The morphological diagnostics of gleying proved to be a less sensitive method, which can recognize only the most contrasting hydromorphic soils. The lower horizons in some taiga soils have a bluish gray color probably not related to the recent soil hydromorphism.     

Water budget of the soils of sand massifs (with the Ust’-Kundryuchensk massif in rostov oblast as an example)

Sand massifs in the steppe zone with coarse-textured sandy or loamy sandy soils are mainly characterized by the percolative type of the soil water regime. The annual precipitation penetrating into the groundwater through the aeration zone varies from 80% in the barren sands to 30% and lower in the overgrown sands. The study of the water budget of the Ust??-Kundryuchensk sand massif with an area of 15800 ha indicates that the total volume of the annual groundwater outflow from the massif reaches 10.5 million m³. The water discharged all year round from the sand massif into the Kundryuch??ya and Severskii Donets rivers is fresh and ultrafresh. It contributes to the water discharge of the rivers and desalinates the river water. This is an important nature-protection function of the sand massif.     

Improvement of the X-ray radiometric method of lanthanides’ diagnostics in soils

There are scarce data on the content of lanthanides in the soils of Russia, which is explained by the difficulties in their identification. The improvement of X-ray radiometric analysis permitted us to analyze a significant group of lanthanides in soils, i.e., La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, and Dy. Methods of diagnostics are developed for different groups of lanthanides. The new procedure permitted achieving high accuracy in the measurement; the limit of the lanthanide identification in soils is equal to 2?C5 mg/kg. The new procedure allows revealing the particularities of heavy lanthanides?? distribution depending on the lithogenic and anthropogenic factors. The procedure is applicable for revealing the technogenic anomalies of heavy lanthanides and determining their content in soils within positive and weakly negative anomalies.     

Anthropogenic transformation of soils in the northern Ergeni Upland (studies at the first experimental plot of the Arshan’-Zelmen Research Station)

The results of soil studies performed in 2005–2009 at the first experimental plot of the Arshan’-Zelmen Research Station of the Institute of Forest Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences are discussed. The post-reclamation state (about 55 years after reclamation) of the soils under forest shelterbelts and adjacent croplands in the rainfed agriculture was studied. The long-term efficiency of forest reclamation and crop-growing technologies developed in the 1950s by the Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute and the Institute of Forest to reclaim strongly saline solonetzic soils was proved. In 55 years, strongly saline sodic solonetzes with sulfate-chloride and chloride-sulfate composition of salts were replaced by agrogenic soils with new properties. Under forest shelterbelts, where deep (40–60 cm) plowing was performed, the soils were transformed into slightly saline solonetzic agrozems with slight soda salinization in the upper meter and with dealkalized plowed and turbated horizons (0–20(40) cm). Under the adjacent cropland subjected to the influence of the shelterbelts on the soil water regime, strongly saline solonetzes were transformed into solonchakous agrosolonetzes with slight soda salinization in the upper 50 cm. In the plow layer, the content of exchangeable sodium decreased to 4–12% of the sum of exchangeable cations. An increased alkalinity and the presence of soda were found in the middle-profile horizons of the anthropogenically transformed soils.     

Genesis of soils developed from red-brown clays and loesslike loams in the southwest of the Central Russian plain (the Belogor’e reserve)

Soils developed from the red-brown Neogene clay and the Quaternary loesslike loams have been studied in the south of the forest-steppe zone on the Central Russian Upland. A polygenetic nature of the soil profile on the loesslike loams is shown. The modern pedogenetic processes in this soil ensure its eluvial-illuvial differentiation with the development of multilayered coatings in the illuvial horizon. The soil developed from the Neogene clay has a lower degree of differentiation despite the more acid reaction. The micromorphological study of the coatings and the mineralogical analysis of the clay fraction separated from the coatings and from the intraped mass disclose differences in the geneses of B horizons of the two soils. In the soil developed from the loesslike loam, hydromica predominates among clay minerals of the coatings; in the soil developed from the red-brown clay, smectitic minerals predominate in the clay fraction. Differences in the properties of these two parent materials predetermined differences in the major directions of soil formation: the metamorphic pedogenesis predominates on the red-brown clay, whereas the textural differentiation develops in the soil on the loesslike loam. The middle horizons in the studied soil profiles are referred to as the structural-metamorphic and textural (clay-illuvial) horizons, respectively.     

Physical status of soddy-podzolic soils on the Chepetsk-Kil’mez interfluve

There are specific aspects in the problem of optimization of the physical conditions of soil fertility that are determined by the genetic features of soils and by the degree of their transformation under anthropogenic impacts. An assessment of the major agrophysical parameters of the loamy soddy-podzolic soils on the Chepetsk-Kil’mez interfluve (Kirov oblast) is presented. A comparison between the actual and optimal parameters of the agrophysical properties of these soils shows that the most significant differences are observed in the soil structural status, the bulk density, and the water permeability.     

Microbial communities of buried soils of the Tsaritsyn Defense Line (1718–1720)

Microbial communities of recent surface soils and the soils buried beneath the rampart of the Tsaritsyn Defense Line (1718–1720) in the Little Ice Age were studied. The contribution of the time factor to the variability in the number of microorganisms from different trophic groups was shown to be minor (0.2–0.3%), although significant. In the upper horizon of the paleosols reflecting the environmental conditions intrinsic to the period of the rampart construction, the lower (by two times) content of live microbial biomass, the lower metabolic activity of the microbial community, and the more contrasting changes in the microbiological parameters as compared to these characteristics in the recent soils were found for all the elements of the local topography. The stabilities of the microbial communities in the buried and recent soils were almost the same. The ecological–trophic structure of the microbial communities in the buried soils evidences that, the climate of the 18th century in the southern Privolzhskaya Upland was more humid than now. At the same time, temperature conditions of the Little Ice Age did not prevent the development of steppe vegetation and corresponding soil microbial communities in this area. Our data on the morphology and physicochemical properties of the soils confirm the assumption about more humid climatic conditions at the beginning of the 18th century in the studied area.     

Contribution of Subcommission a (salt affected soils) to the achievements in the investigation and management of saline and Alkali soils 1964–2001

This paper was written by M. Redly soon before her death in September 2010. It summarizes the work of a big team of soil scientists studying the genesis, geography, and method of reclamation of salt-affected soils in the second half of the 20th century. It is also a tribute to I. Szabolcs, the organizer and the first chairman of the Subcommision on Salt-Affected Soils at the ISSS. The work of this subcommision can be considered an inspiring example of international cooperation in solving topical problems of soil science.     

Phytoindication of the water status and nutrient supply of oil-polluted soils in the middle reaches of the Ob’ River

The method of phytoindication of the soil water status and nutrient supply was applied to natural and oil-contaminated soils in the middle reaches of the Ob’ River. These soil characteristics were indirectly assessed using the ecological scales developed by L. G. Ramenskii. On this basis, changes in the soil water status and nutrient supply under the impact of soil contamination with oil and oil products were estimated for the particular soil and landscape conditions     

Physical properties of soils and the simulation of the hydrothermal regime for the complex soil cover of the Vladimir Opol’e region

A methodological approach to the physically sound mathematical simulation of the hydrothermal regime for a complex soil cover on an agricultural field scale was proposed. To realize the approach, it is necessary (1) to restore the hydrothermal regime of two contrasting soils using a physically sound mathematical model on the basis of the experimental thermophysical and hydrophysical characteristics, (2) to adapt and optimize the model using the available experimental regime data, (3) to determine the hydrophysical and thermophysical properties for the entire plot under study using pedotransfer functions, and (4) to restore the hydrothermal regime of the entire soil plot using a mathematical model and the meteorological data for a specific time period. The proposed procedure allows simulating the hydrothermal regime of an agrogray soil complex in the Vladimir Opol??e region with a normalized standard error of about 8%. The analysis of the hydrothermal regime for the soil cover of the studied plot calculated from the meteorological data for the period from May to August of 2009 showed that the lower temperature values were confined to the areas of the agrogray soils with the second humus horizon: their average temperature was lower than the temperature of the agrogray soils by 0.44, 0.93, and 1.32°C at depths of 20, 40, and 70 cm, respectively, and the differences between their sums of the active temperatures for the considered period of 2009 reached 89 and 74°C at depths of 20 and 40 cm, respectively.     

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Carbon Isotopes in a Palsa Peat (Bol’shezemel’skaya Tundra)

Eurasian Soil Science - The content of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and carbon isotope composition in the peat of a palsa near Eletsky settlement, Vorkuta urban district, Komi Republic...     

Base-buffering properties of native and agrogenically transformed dark-humus gley soils of the Primor’e region

The base-buffering properties of native and agrogenically transformed dark-humus gley soils of the Khanka Valley were studied using the method of equilibrium potentiometric titration. The major buffering systems of the soils under study were characterized. The highest base-buffering capacity was observed in the humus horizon of the dark-humus gley soil, where correlations between the buffer intensity, the exchangeable and total acidities, and the carbon content were revealed. In the agrogenically transformed soil, the base-buffering capacity decreased by an order of magnitude.     

Changes in the organic carbon pool of abandoned soils in Russia (1990–2004)

The assessment of the changes in the organic carbon pool in the soils of the Russian Federation that occurred in 1990–2004 was carried out using approximation, soil-geoinformation, and simulation approaches. As a result of the changes in the system of land use, after 1990, the organic carbon storages in the 0- to 20-cm-thick soil layer could be 196–319 Mt depending on the methodology of the calculation applied and taking into account the abandoned area of 14.8 million ha. As compared to the beginning of the 1990s, the organic matter stock in the former plow layer increased by 1.6–5.8%. The great scatter of the data is mainly related to the incertainty of the estimates of the area of arable soils not used any more in agriculture.     

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.     

Is the endangered Fennoscandian arctic fox (Alopex lagopus) population genetically isolated?

The arctic fox population in Fennoscandia is on the verge of going extinct after not being able to recover from a severe bottleneck at the end of the 19th century. The Siberian arctic fox population, on the other hand, is large and unthreatened. In order to resolve questions regarding gene flow between, and genetic variation within the populations, a 294 bp long part of the mitochondrial hypervariable region 1 was sequenced. This was done for 17 Swedish, 15 Siberian and two farmed foxes. Twelve variable nucleotide sites were observed, which resulted in 10 different haplotypes. Three haplotypes were found in Sweden and seven haplotypes were found in Siberia. An analysis of molecular variance showed a weak, but significant, differentiation between the populations. No difference in haplotype diversity was found between the populations. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the three Swedish haplotypes were not monophyletic compared to the Siberian haplotypes. These results indicate a certain amount of gene flow between the two populations, both before and after the bottleneck. Restocking the Fennoscandian population with arctic foxes from Siberia might therefore be a viable option.