Factors of the development of taiga and tundra soils with differentiation of Fe and Al oxides in the profile

Statistical data on the bulk contents of iron and aluminum oxides in iron-depleted and iron-enriched horizons of a wide range of taiga and tundra soils were compared. It was found that the soils could be arranged into the following sequence characterized by an increase in the relative contribution of iron oxides and a decrease in the relative contribution of aluminum oxides to the differentiation of sesquioxides in the soil profiles: sandy podzols—soddy-podzolic soils—loamy micropodzols and iron-illuvial svetlozems—cryogenic ferruginated gleyzems. It was concluded that the bleaching of eluvial horizons and the depletion of sesquioxides from them, as well as the accumulation of sesquioxides in the illuvial horizons, are controlled by different processes in different soils. In sandy podzols, the differentiation of sesquioxides is due to the Al-Fe-humus podzolization; in loamy micropodzols and iron-illuvial svetlozems, due to the redox-Al-Fe-humus podzolization; in podzolic and soddy-podzolic soils, due to the selective podzolization and lessivage; and, in cryogenic ferruginated gleyzems, due to the reduction-oxidation processes.     

The number of microorganisms and the microbiological activity of human-modified cryogenic pale soils of Yakutia

Specific features of the microbial population—the high number of all the groups of microorganisms (1.6 × 10³–3.5 × 10⁷) similar to their abundance in steppe soils of the Transbaikal region and the distribution of microorganisms along the soil profile (without a decrease in their number with depth)—were revealed in a cryogenic weakly solodized loamy sandy pale soil. Unlike the soils of the Transbaikal region and central Russia, where bacteria, as a rule, are accumulated in the litter and upper soil horizons, in the undisturbed and weakly disturbed soils of Yakutia, the number of microorganisms is rather high within the whole soil profile. In the strongly disturbed agropale soil of croplands, the distribution of microorganisms is the same as in the soils of the Transbaikal region and European Russia. In the cryogenic soils studied, actinomycetes predominated, and their number varied from 47 000 to 35 000 000 CFU/g of soil. The number of microorganisms positively (r = 1) correlated with the soil moisture.     

Soils of northern spurs of the Cherskii Ridge in the area of the northern pole of cold: Morphology,properties, and classification

The soils in the area of the northern pole of cold located on the interfluve between the Yana and Adycha rivers within the spurs of Kisilyakh Ridge included in the mountain system of Cherskii Ridge have been studied for the first time. The profile-genetic approach has been applied to describe the soils and determine their classification position. It is found that the major soil types in this region are the soils of the postlithogenic trunk belonging to the orders of lithozems (Cryic Leptosols), gley soils (Gleyic Skeletic Cryosols), and Al–Fe-humus soils (Spodic Skeletic Cryosols). The ecological ranges of altitudinal zones— the taiga zone with various types of lithozems below 630–700 m a.s.l. and the tundra zone with combinations of gley and nongley cryogenic soils above these heights—have been established. The development of gley or nongley soils is specified by the local orogenic and lithological conditions and slope aspect, which, in turn, control the degree of drainage and the presence and character of permafrost. In the profile of mountainous gley soils (gleyzems) with shallow ice-rich permafrost, cryogenic processes and features typical of the analogues of these soils on plains—cryogenic cracking, cryoturbation, solifluction, thixotropy, oxiaquic features above permafrost, saturation of the soil profile with mobile humus, etc.—are typical.     

The structure of the bacterial heterotrophic block in tundra soils of Yamal Peninsula

The tundra cryogenic soils of Yamal Peninsula have a high pool of prokaryote microorganisms characteristic of ecosystems where the environmental conditions are unfavorable for microbiological processes. The lowering of the cultivation temperature from 20 to 5°C did not affect the number of bacteria and their taxonomic structure. Psychrotolerant gram-negative bacteria represented by oligotrophs and copiotrophs predominated in the bacterial communities. Among the bacteria of the hydrolytic block, only bacilli were isolated upon cultivation on the media. The species spectrum of the Bacillus genus was determined by the capability of its representatives for growth at low temperatures. The bacteria isolated from the cryogenic soils had a high nitrogenase activity, which increased under the lower cultivation temperature. This fact shows that the majority of the bacteria in tundra soils has adapted to functioning at low temperatures.     

Specific features of the development of soils of hydromorphic ecosystems in the northern taiga of Western Siberia under conditions of cryogenesis

Differently directed and heterochronous cryogenic processes have contributed to the contrasting soil cover patterns and spatial heterogeneity of the properties of soils in hydromorphic ecosystems of the discontinuous permafrost zone of the northern taiga in Western Siberia. Frost heave and permafrost thawing within ecosystems of highmoor bogs have led to the development of specific cryogenic landforms, such as flat-topped and large peat mounds. A set of cryogenic soils is developed in these ecosystems; it includes different variants of cryozems, gleyzems (Cryosols), and peat soils (Histosols). The distribution of these soil types is controlled by the local topography and thawing depth, other factors being insignificant. Alternation of peat horizons of different types and ages, whirl-like patterns of horizon boundaries, considerable variations in the thickness of soil horizons, and inversions of soil horizons under the impact of frost cracking, frost heave, and cryoturbation are typical of the considered soils. Thawing depth is the most significant factor affecting the thickness of organic horizons, the soil pH, and the degree of decomposition of peat. As a result of the upward movement of bog ecosystems under the impact of frost heave, peat soils are subjected to considerable transformation: peat horizons undergo mineralization, and the thickness of organic horizons decreases; in some cases, eluvial–illuvial differentiation of the mineral horizons takes place, and peat podzols are developed. However, the opposite process of the return of the soils to the bog stage of pedogenesis with peat accumulation may take place in any time in the case of activation of thermokarst processes.     

Microorganisms in forest soils of central Yakutia

The population of saprotrophic, oligotrophic, and nitrogen-fixing microorganisms was determined in cryogenic forest soils of central Yakutia. The number of saprotrophic bacteria ranged between 10⁸ and 10¹⁰ cell/g of soil. In the soils of Buryatia, this parameter (10⁸) was 4 orders of magnitude as high as in the soils of European Russia (10⁶). According to the increase in the total number of microorganisms in the soils studied, the forests were arranged in the following sequence: pine forest—birch forest—larch forest. The main factor that determined the saturation of the studied frozen soils with microorganisms was the landscape, i.e., the forest type and the soil type. Of minor importance were the weather conditions of the year or season investigated, which defined the intra-and interspecies variation of the total population of the soil microorganisms.     

Genesis and classification position of automorphic soils developed from mantle loams in the northern taiga of European Russia

Automorphic loamy soils of the northern taiga and forest-tundra zones in the northeastern part of European Russia are characterized. These soils are diagnosed by the presence of a paragenetic system of the podzolic (often, with gley features) and iron-illuvial horizons combined with a specific cryometamorphic CRM horizon. The podzolic horizon is considerably impoverished in the total and oxalate-extractable iron and slightly impoverished in aluminum and clay in comparison with the iron-illuvial horizon. A distinctive feature of the cryometamorphic horizon is its fine angular blocky, ooidal, or granulated structure in the dry state and curdled cryogenic structure in the wet state. The soil profile is relatively weakly differentiated with respect to the contents of clay and sesquioxides. The genesis of these soils is related to a combination of the gley-Al-Fe-humus mobilization, migration, and illuvial accumulation of substances and the cryogenic structuring. According to the new Classification and Diagnostic System of Russian Soils, these soils fit the criteria of iron-illuvial svetlozems in the order of cryometamorphic soils. In the studied area, these soils are found together with texture-differentiated gley-podzolic soils having the Bt horizon and belonging to the order of texture-differentiated soils.     

Soils of Cryogenic Landforms in the South of the Vitim Plateau: Distribution and Role in the Allocation of Soil Carbon Pools

Eurasian Soil Science - The results of the study of cryogenic landforms (heave mounds and thermokarst depressions) and soils developed on them under conditions of the ultracontinental climate of...     

Characteristics of bacterial communities in hydromorphic soils of northern regions

An analysis of the abundance and taxonomical structure of the heterotrophic block of aerobic and conditionally anaerobic bacteria in hydromorphic tundra and taiga soils was carried out. The decline of the cultivating temperature from 20° to 5° did not result in the reduction of bacterial abundance. The spectrum of the bacterial dominants in the northern cryogenic soils is wider under 4–6°, which is indicative of the lowtemperature adaptation of bacteria. Oligotrophs and copiotrophs predominate the bacterial communities of the explored soils. However, among hydrolytic bacteria, active chitin destructors, represented by Bacillus and Janthinobacterium, were found.     

The influence of cryogenic mass exchange on the distribution of viable microfauna in cryozems

The role of cryogenic mass exchange in the distribution of the viable microfauna (ciliates, heterotrophic flagellates, and nematodes) in the profiles of cryoturbated cryogenic soils and in the upper layers of permafrost was revealed. The material for microbiological investigations was collected from the main horizons of cryozem profiles, including the zones with morphologically manifested processes of cryogenic mass exchange (the development of barren spots, cryoturbation, and suprapermafrost accumulation) and the zones affected by solifluction. The radiocarbon dating of the soil samples showed that the age of the organic cryogenic material and material buried in the course of solifluction varied from 2100 to 4500 years. Some zones with specific ecological conditions promoting the preservation of species diversity of the microfauna were found to develop in the cryozem profiles. A considerable part of the community (38% of ciliates, 58% of flagellates, and 50% of nematodes) maintained its viability in the dormant state, and in some cases, it could pass to the state of long-term cryobiosis in the upper layer of permafrost.     

Effect of deep freezing on the morphogenetic properties of meadow podbels in the middle reaches of the Amur River

Micromorphological features and physical properties of podbels in the middle reaches of the Amur River have been examined. It is argued that the well-pronounced aggregation in the illuvial horizons of these soils is formed under the impact of cryogenic processes. The bleaching of the eluvial-gley horizons of podbels is also enhanced under the impact of cryogenesis. The corresponding process can be referred to as the cryoeluviation process.     

Humic acids in meadow-chernozemic permafrost-affected soils of the Transbaikal Region

The composition and properties of humic acids in permafrost-affected meadow-chernozemic soils of the Transbaikal Region have been studied. The contents of carbon, nitrogen, and acid functional groups in the humic acids of the studied soils formed under the impact of cryogenic factors are relatively low. Thus, both the condensed nuclear part and the aliphatic chains are well pronounced in the humic acids of the studied soils. At the same time, the degree of their aromaticity is lower in comparison with humic acids in the analogous soils of Western Siberia and Kazakhstan.     

Microbial complexes of hydromorphic soils in the Selenga River delta (Baikal region)

The number and the biomass of microorganisms were determined in the soils of the floodplain and islands in the Selenga River delta. The population of fungi in the soils studied was low. The number of saprotrophic prokaryote microorganisms varied from 10⁶–10⁸ CFU/g of soil in the upper horizons to 10⁴–10⁵ CFU/g in the lower horizons of the soils. This pattern is typical for most zonal soils. The microbial biomass in the floodplain soils was 2–4 times as high as that in the soils of the islands. The number of microorganisms of different ecologic-trophic groups participating in the nitrogen and carbon mobilization was much lower than that in the hydromorphic soils of the Transbaikal region or in the cryogenic soils of the Angara River basin (Irkutsk district). The low coefficient of microbiological mineralization and the low coefficient showing the lack of nitrogen (coefficient of oligotrophness) in the soils indicated the weak processes of organic matter decomposition in the soils studied. During the season investigated (August–September), the bacterial complexes in all the soils were dominated by bacteria of the genera Bacillus, Pseudomonas, and Aquaspirillum. In the floodplain soils, streptomycetes constituted a considerable part of the microbial complexes of the floodplain soils, whereas, in the soils of the islands, their number was minor.     

Problems of the Cryogenic Soils’ Diagnostics in the Recent Russian Soil Classification System

Eurasian Soil Science - The paper is targeted at positioning the cryogenic soils in the recent classification system of Russian soils. An on-line discussion and recent publications demonstrated...     

The influence of heating on organic matter of forest litters and soils under experimental conditions

The specific features of changes in the content and mobility of organic matter in litters and cryogenic soils under heating were revealed. The thermal stability of the organic matter and litters is different. In the soils, the maximal loss of matter was recorded at a temperature of 300°C. In the litters, the maximal losses were found at 300, 400 and 550°C and depended inversely on the carbon content in them. The heating to 200°C caused insignificant changes in the mass of the litters and soils but increased the content of the water-soluble fraction of organic matter and the concentration of the water-soluble mineral nitrogen forms.     

Accumulation of organic matter in the mineral layers of permafrost-affected soils of coastal lowlands in East Siberia

On the basis of a large volume of literature and original data, the high content (1–7%) of organic matter in the mineral layer of loamy permafrost-affected soils of coastal lowlands in East Siberia (from the lower reaches of the Lena River to the lower reaches of the Kolyma River) has been statistically proved. In most cases, the reserves of C_org in the mineral layer of these soils exceed those in the surface organic horizons and constitute 60–90% of the total soil pool of C_org. The enrichment of the mineral layer with C_org is due to the cryogenic retention (retenization) of humus (the illuviation and accumulation of colorless humic substances above permafrost) and the cryogenic mass exchange (mechanical admixture of organic matter from the upper organic horizons into the mineral layers). The analysis of 60 soil profiles showed that the accumulation of organic matter above the permafrost table is observed in 43% of cases; in general, the organic matter distribution in the soil profiles is highly variable. A specific type of colorless humus is accumulated above the permafrost table. The mechanisms of its precipitation and transformation in the profile require further studies.     

Verification of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Classification and Diagnostic system of Russian soils</Emphasis> (2004) on the materials of a collection of soil monoliths from the V.V. Dokuchaev Central Soil Museum

The first in the world collection of soil monoliths from the Dokuchaev Central Soil Museum (St. Petersburg) was examined in order to test and verify the new substantive-genetic classification system of Russian soils. This work made it possible to introduce a number of refinements in the second edition of the Russian soil classification system (2004). These refinements included the addition of new diagnostic horizons and features and the specification of their definitions. The analysis of the museum collection of soils has definite advantages, as it allows one to work with soils from different geographic regions simultaneously, to consider morphological features of soils under standard conditions, to use analytical soil data, and to analyze different names (i.e., interpretations of the genesis) given to the same soils. At the same time, a critical analysis of the collection creates necessary prerequisites for a comparative analysis of soils from different regions of Russia with the national reference soil base, which is important in order to reveal the real pedogenetic diversity and improve the information base on soil resources in Russia.     

Soil formation and the underlying permafrost

The composition and fabric of the upper permafrost layer and its relationships with the permafrost-affected soils developing from the loamy substrates on the interfluves within coastal lowlands of northern Yakutia are considered. The studied area is characterized by the maximum activity of cryogenic processes and a shallow depth of seasonal thawing. The permafrost layer affected by the maximum thawing during the Holocene has a specific morphology attesting to the impact of soil processes on it. In general, the modern soil profile and the underlying permafrost layer can be distinguished as the soil-permafrost complex. It is subdivided into the soil profile, the transient layer, and the intermediate layer. The morphology and properties of the transient layer depend on the character of the soil horizons above the permafrost table. The lateral migration of raw organic substances takes place above the permafrost surface between the particular elements of the cryogenic soil complexes; this material tends to accumulate within the transient layer.     

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.     

Modeling of the thermal influence of fires on the physicochemical properties and microbial activity of litter in cryogenic soils

Periodic surface fires in the cryolithozone (the northern taiga subzone) are the main factor determining the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the soil organic matter. The specific features of the changes in the physicochemical parameters and microbial activity of the organic horizons in the cryogenic soils under larch forests of the northern taiga after the impact of high temperatures were revealed. The temperatures of fires of different intensity were simulated in laboratory conditions. The thermal impact on the litter organic matter during the surface fires may increase the CO₂ emission from the surface of the soil in the postfire communities due to the destruction of organic compounds only for a short time. After fires of high intensity with strong mineralization of the litters, during a period of more than 1 month, the pyrogenic effect on the organic horizons of the soils under the larch forests of the cryolithozone determined the reduction of the CO₂ emissions in the freshly burned areas as compared to the intact stands.