Reconstruction of climate,soil, and vegetation conditions of the Srubnaya cultural epoch on the basis of kurgan studies in the Cis-Ural forest-steppe of the Republic of Bashkortostan

The reconstruction of soil, vegetation, and climatic conditions for the Srubnaya cultural epoch (3660 ± 40 (date wood), 3860 ± 120 (bones date) was performed on the basis of palynological and paleosol studies with radiocarbon dating of bones and wood fragments from two kurgans in the Cis-Ural forest-steppe of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Morphological features and chemical properties of the modern background soils, the soils formed on the surface of burial mounds (kurgans), and the soils buried under them were characterized. According to palynological data, the climate of this territory in the period of construction of these kurgans was more humid than the modern climate. The paleovegetation of the Srubnaya epoch was represented by mesophilic herbaceous steppes with a lower participation of xerophytic species as compared to the modern steppe and by small forest groves composed of birch and pine trees with some admixture of lime trees. The temperature conditions were close to those at present, or somewhat cooler, which is evidenced by the lower content of pollen of the broadleaved trees. The modern background soils and the soils buried under the kurgans are classified as thin light loamy typical calcareous chernozems; they have similar morphologies and physicochemical properties. However, the reconstructed organic matter content in the upper 50 cm of the buried paleosols is higher than that in the modern soils. This attests to more favorable climatic conditions during the Srubnaya epoch and is in agreement with palynological data.     

Revealing of directed temporal changes in soils of short-term chronosequences upon the high spatial variability in the background soil properties

The properties of paleosols buried under the Filippovka group of kurgans in Orenburg oblast dating back to the second half of the fifth and to the fourth centuries BC were analyzed with the use of multivariate statistical methods. This made it possible to establish the relative chronology of construction of the kurgans, which was confirmed by the results of radiocarbon dating of the soil humus.     

Modern and buried soils of kurgans in the forest-steppe zone of the Middle Volga region (by the example of Komintern I kurgan)

The construction of the Volga–Kama cascade of water reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations in the middle of the 20th century resulted in the inundation of vast areas and the development of abrasion along the shores that threatens many monuments of the archaeological and cultural heritage. The soils buried under northernmost kurgans of the Lugovskaya culture dating back to the 15th–14th centuries BC (kurgan Komintern I) were studied on the surface of the second terrace of the Kama River near its confluence with the Volga River. Burial sites of kurgan Komintern III were subjected to destruction in 1981, and archaeological excavations of kurgan Komintern II were performed in 2008. The danger of complete disappearance of these archaeological sites necessitated their thorough study with the use of multiple methods, including special paleosol studies. The soils buried under the kurgans ceased to be active components of the soil cover about 3500 years ago. They preserve information on the paleoenvironmental conditions before their burying. The analysis of morphological features and physical, physicochemical, and chemical properties of the buried soils attests to their chernozemic nature. Background surface soils that have passed through the entire cycle of the Holocene pedogenesis have evolved since that time into gray forest soils (Luvic Greyzemic Phaeozems) under forest vegetation. These soils are characterized by the increased acidity of the surface horizons (pH_КСl 4.3) and the development of lessivage. Data on the coefficients of mineral weathering in the buried paleosols and background surface soils attest to the identical precipitation both for the surface and buried soils in the Middle and Late Holocene.     

The solonetzic process in surface soils and buried paleosols and its reflection in the mineralogical soil memory

The development of the solonetzic process in paleosols buried under kurgans and in the modern surface soils has been studied on the basis of the analysis of the clay (<1 μm) fraction. The revealed changes in the textural differentiation of the soils and the mineralogical composition of the clay fraction during 4500 years are assessed from the viewpoint of the “memory“ of the solid-phase soil components. The mineralogical characteristics show that the solonetzic process in the modern background soil is more developed. The mineralogical approach allows us to reveal the long-term changes in the soil status; it is less useful for studying the effect of short-term bioclimatic fluctuations. In the latter case, more labile soil characteristics should be used. The mineralogical method, combined with other methods, becomes more informative upon the study of soil chronosequences. Our studies have shown that the data on the clay minerals in the buried paleosols may contain specific information useful for paleoreconstructions that is not provided by other methods.     

Short chronosequences of paleosols from the Skvortsovka kurgans in the Buzuluk River valley of Orenburg oblast

Paleosols buried under kurgans of the Yamnaya (the third millennium BC) and Srubnaya (the 18th–17th centuries BC) cultures within the Skvortsovka group of kurgans in the Buzuluk River valley in Orenburg oblast have been studied. This is the area of the dry steppe zone. The changes in the paleosol properties make it possible to distinguish between relatively short-term chronointervals separately for the Yamnaya and Srubnaya cultures. The paleosol data and radiocarbon dating have been used for revealing the relative order of the construction of the kurgans within these chronointervals and for the paleoclimatic reconstruction. Quite definite changes took place in the soil formation from the beginning to the end of the particular chronointervals: the contents of humus and exchangeable bases and the portion of calcium ions in the composition of the exchangeable cations increased in parallel with the enhanced leaching of carbonates and the enhanced biological activity. These changes attest to the increasing amount of precipitation. In general, the climate of the Srubnaya cultural epoch was less continental, whereas the climate of the Yamnaya cultural epoch was relatively close to the modern climate. The ¹⁴C dates of the pedogenic carbonates in the upper meter of the paleosol profiles have been used as auxiliary data to confirm the sequence of the soil’s burial during the short chronointervals corresponding to the humid stages of the paleosol’s evolution, and the 14C dates of the diagenetic carbonates have been used to determine the dates of construction of the kurgans with due account for some time gap between the construction of the kurgans and the appearance of these carbonates in the buried soil profiles.     

Comparative characterization of microbial communities in kurgans,paleosols buried under them,and background surface soils in the steppe zone of the Lower Volga region

A comparative analysis of the state of microbial communities in kurgans, paleosols buried under them, and background surface soils in the dry steppe zone of the Lower Volga region has been performed. It is shown that the population density of microorganisms of various trophic groups in the kurgans is an order of magnitude lower than that in the A1 horizon of the corresponding buried paleosols and background surface soils within the areas of chestnut, light chestnut, and solonetzic soils. The respiration activity of the microbial communities in the upper layer of the kurgans is comparable with that in the A1 horizons of the background surface soils; it decreases in the deeper layers of the kurgans. In the A1 horizon of the buried paleosols, the respiration activity is approximately the same as in the deep layers of the kurgans. In the buried paleosols, the spatial variability in the numbers of soil microorganisms is approximately the same or somewhat higher than that in the background surface soils. The spatial variability in the respiration activity of the buried paleosols is two to four times higher than that in the background surface soils.     

Mechanisms of potassium uptake efficiency and dynamics in the rhizosphere of safflower and sunflower in different soils

Potassium uptake efficiency of safflower and sunflower was studied under semi-controlled conditions in loamy and sandy soils. Both species performed better in loamy soil. Safflower had higher agronomic efficiency and higher relative root length under suboptimal K supply. Safflower had higher specific root density and less root radius at all K levels. Safflower had higher relative root-shoot ratio under suboptimal K in loamy soil. Both species had similar K-influx at low and optimal K in loamy soil, while sunflower had higher influx under suboptimal and optimal supplies in sandy soil. Safflower had higher shoot demand in both soils under suboptimal and optimal K. Both species depleted similar amounts of soil solution-K under suboptimal K in sandy soil, while sunflower was more efficient under suboptimal levels in loamy soils. Sunflower depleted more extractable-K under both suboptimal and optimal K. Safflower could be considered K-uptake efficient crop.     

DMPP硝化抑制效果受其浓度、施用方式及土壤基质势的影响

The efficacy of nitrification inhibitors depends on soil properties and environmental conditions. The nitrification inhibitor 3.4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate （DMPP） was investigated in a sandy loam and a loamy soil to study its effectiveness as influenced by inhibitor concentration, application form, and soil matric potential. DMPP was applied with concentrations up to 34.6 mg DMPP kg^-1 soil as solution or as ammonium-sulfate/ammonium-nitrate granules formulated with DMPP. DMPP inhibited the oxidation of ammonium in both soils, but this effect was more pronounced in the sandy loam than in the loamy soil. When applied as solution, increasing DMPP concentrations up to 7 mg DMPP kg^-1 soil had no influence on the inhibition. The effectiveness of DMPP formulated as fertilizer granules was superior to the liquid application of DMPP and NH4^＋, particularly in the loamy soil. Without DMPP, a decline in soil matric potential down to -600 kPa decreased nitrification in both soils, but this effect was more pronounced in the sandy loam than in the loamy soil. DMPP was most effective in the sandy loam particularly under conditions of higher soil moisture, i.e., under conditions favorable for nitrate leaching.     

Assessing the biological activity of oil-contaminated soddy-podzolic soils with different textures

The respiratory activity features in oil-contaminated soddy-podzolic soils of different textures have been studied. Unidirectional processes occur in contaminated loamy and loamy sandy soddy-podzolic soils; their intensities depend on the soil parameters. The mineralization rates of the oil products and the activity of the microflora in loamy soils exceed the corresponding parameters for loamy sandy soils. The long-term impact of oil and its transformation products results in more important disturbances of the microbial community in light soils. It has been shown that light soils containing 9% oil require longer time periods or more intensive remediation measures for the restoration of soil microbial cenoses disturbed by the pollutant.     

Impact of Digestate Application on Chemical and Microbiological Properties of Two Different Textured Soils

Agricultural application of anaerobic digestates can play an important role in plant nutrition. The effects of digestate treatment were studied in pot experiments, using sandy and loamy textured soils with distinct characteristics. Three different treatments were studied and compared: control, digestate, and irrigation treatments. Nitrogen loading was calculated on the bases of the digestate analysis. The same amounts of digestate and irrigation water were applied in the different treatments before sowing and at the V4–V6 stages of maize. Besides the conventional soil chemical analysis, invertase, dehydrogenase, catalase, and the abundance of some cultivable microbes were measured in two consecutive years. According to our results, irrigation and digestate treatments had greater impact in the case of sandy soils than in loamy textured soils. Digestate provides more effective phosphorus and potassium sources than nitrogen. Based on the results of discriminant analysis, the digestate application had a greater influence on soil chemical properties, followed by microbiological parameters.     

Sorption and migration of zinc in taiga zone soils in laboratory and field experiments

The parameters of the zinc sorption and migration were experimentally determined under laboratory and field conditions for soils of forest and meadow biogeocenoses of Tver?? oblast. Two methods gave relatively close values for the parameters of the metal??s sorption by an almost neutral loamy sandy soddy soil of a meadow biogeocenosis. The potential capacity of an acid sandy loamy soddy-podzolic soil for zinc sorption determined under laboratory conditions was not completely realized under the field conditions, which was related to the properties of the biogeocenosis (the forest plants, the organization of the soil pore space, and the soil reaction) and the experimental conditions.     

The Phytotoxicity Changes of Sewage Sludge-Amended Soils

The aim of the present study was the estimation of changes in the phytotoxicity of soils amended with sewage sludge with relation to Lepidium sativum, Sinapis alba and Sorghum saccharatum. The study was realised in the system of a plot experiment for a period of 29?months. Samples for analyses were taken at the beginning of the experiment, and then after 5, 17 and 29?months. Two kinds of sewage sludge, with varying properties, were added to a sandy soil (soil S) or a loamy soil (soil L) at the dose of 90?t/ha. The addition of sewage sludge to the soils at the start of the experiment caused a significant reduction of both seed germination capacity and root length of the test plants, the toxic effect being distinctly related to the test plant species. With the passage of time the negative effect of sewage sludge weakened, the extent of its reduction depending both of the kind of sewage sludge applied and on the type of soil. Phytotoxicity of the soils amended with the sewage sludges was significantly lower at the end of the experiment than at the beginning. The species of the plants grown on the soils also had a significant effect on their phytotoxicity. The greatest reduction of toxicity was observed in the soil on which no plants were grown (sandy soil) and in the soil under a culture of willow (loamy soil). Solid phase of sewage sludge-amended soils was characterised by higher toxicity than their extracts.     

Reconstruction of Climate and Landscapes of the Medieval Period on the Basis of Palynological Study of Paleosols Buried under Kurgans and Dendrochronological Data from Altai (South of Western Siberia)

Eurasian Soil Science - Light loamy ordinary chernozems buried under two kurgans of a large Early Medieval necropolis Srostki-1 constructed in 890 ± 105…975 ± 85 AD (calibration by...     

Paleosols of kurgans of the Early Iron Age in the Transural steppe zone

Paleosol studies of archaeological monuments of different ages have been conducted on the Transural Plateau. The morphological and physicochemical properties of paleosols under burial mounds (kurgans) of the Early Iron Age (the fifth and fourth centuries BC) were compared with the properties of background surface soils. A paleosol of the Savromat epoch (2500 BP) is characterized by high contents of gypsum and soluble salts. The presence of humus tongues in its profile attests to the aridity and continentality of the climatic conditions during that epoch. Paleosols buried under kurgans of the Late Sarmatian epoch and the Hun epoch (about 1600 BP) are characterized by a higher content of humus and greater depth of the carbonate horizon, which attests to the humidization of climatic conditions. The evolution of soils as related to climate dynamics in the first millennium BC and the first millennium AD is characterized.     

Mathematical simulation and calculation of the soil compaction under dynamic loads

The deformation and compaction of loamy sandy soddy-podzolic soils under linear dynamic changes in the compressive stresses and in the course of the soil creeping were studied in field experiments. The rheological properties of these soils occurring in the viscoelastic state were described by a first-order differential equation relating the compressive stresses, the rates of their changes, and the velocities of the relative vertical compressive deformation. Regression equations were derived for the viscoelastic properties of the studied soil as functions of its density, moisture, and linear compaction velocity. Methods were proposed for the calculation of indices of the stress-strain state and the compaction of soils under specified conditions of changes in their compressive stresses with time and in the course of the soil creeping after the initial linear increase in load. Corresponding computer programs were developed. The effect of the main factors due to the linear increase in the compressive loads and in the course of the soil creeping on the rheological properties, the stress-strain state, and the density of soils was quantitatively estimated. The calculation showed that the values of the soil deformation and the density under compressive stresses lower than the ultimate strength were stabilized with time, and the properties of the viscoelastic soil approached elastic ones.     

Biological activity of soddy-pale-podzolic soils under coniferous-deciduous forest parks in the city of Mogilev

The physicochemical properties, enzymatic activity, number and biomass of soil microorganisms was determined by direct microscopic methods in the anthropogenically changed loamy sandy-loamy soddy-pale-podzolic soils under forest parks (the city of Mogilev) with the predominance of meadow-weed plants in the ground cover. The urban environment had a more toxic influence on the biological activity of the soils than recreation. A more intense transformation of the litter substrate and accumulation of biogenic elements was revealed in the old-plowed sandy loamy soils under the urban coniferous-deciduous plantations as compared to these processes in the soils of the recreational pine forests in the vicinity of Mogilev.     

Changes in the rheological properties and bulk density of soddy-podzolic soils under dynamic loads

Field studies of the rheological properties of loamy sandy soddy-podzolic soils were performed. Within the studied ranges of the soil moistening and bulk density values, the soils behaved as viscoelastic bodies. The dynamic deformation of such soils under compressive stress was modeled by a differential equation of the first order linking the compressive stress, the rate of its changes, and the relative soil deformation in the vertical direction. Correlative relationships between the viscoelastic soil properties, the soil bulk density, the soil water content, and the angular frequency of the harmonic law of the soil deformation were obtained. The methods of calculation of the soil bulk density as dependent on the initial bulk density and the mode of the soil deformation upon cyclic loads by rigid cylinders and by elastic wheels were developed. These methods were realized in a computer program for the quantitative assessment of the effect of the major factors on the changes in the rheological properties, the indices of the soil deformation, and the soil bulk density under the impact of compressive loads. It was shown that an increase in the number of loading-unloading cycles leads to the transformation of the viscoelastic soil properties into elastic properties.     

土壤时间序列的构建及其在土壤发生研究中的意义

土壤时间序列在研究土壤演化速率与方向、建立土壤发生演化模型上具有重要的价值,并且能为土壤发生学理论的验证提供宝贵的信息。为了获得可靠的结果,时间序列的构建必须包括剖面内与剖面间母质均一性或母质不连续性的判定以及土壤的绝对或相对年龄的判定这两个重要过程。本文综述了土壤时间序列的类型及其构建方式,详细论述了在时间序列建立过程中母质不连续性的判定方式与土壤定年方法,并阐明了土壤时间序列方法在土壤发生研究中的重要意义,旨在为正确建立土壤时间序列、深刻理解土壤发生中的时间因素提供较为详尽的参考。     

Mobility of heavy metals in polluted soils near zinc smelters

The distribution and the availability of Cd, Zn, Cu, and Pb along the entire profile of two highly polluted soils located near Zn smelters have been related to the chemical and mineralogical composition of the soil. Lead and Cu deposits always remain in the surface layers and their availability measured by neutral ammonium acetate extraction was very weak. The behavior of Cd and Zn appears different in sandy acidic podzolic soils and in neutral loamy soils. These metals are associated with the organic matter migration in podzolic soils, while they remain in the upper layers in loamy soils provided that the pH is higher than 6. When the pH drops below 6, the mobility of Cd increases while that of Zn increases only below pH 5. The availability of heavy metals is lower in neutral loamy soils than in sandy acidic soils due to precipitation of carbonates and phosphates. With increasing depth, Cd and Zn are more available if the soil is acid; but, if the soil is neutral and loamy the availability is kept low by adsorption on clays and free oxides. The results of the complex trace metals interactions with the soil components show a higher accumulation capacity for loamy soils than for sandy soils notwithstanding the fact that their CEC is similar.