Approaches to quantify progressive soil development with time in Mediterranean climate—I. Use of field criteria

Soil‐chronosequence studies are useful to assess relationships between land‐surface ages and stages of soil formation. Such relationships may then be applied to establish relative chronologies of development of land surfaces of unknown ages, contributing to landscape‐history reconstruction. For this purpose, it is important to identify those soil properties that are most closely related to soil age. This article reviews soil‐chronosequence studies from Mediterranean regions in Europe and California. Soil properties described in the field and soil‐development indices based on field criteria that have been used in the studies are evaluated. The properties total texture, rubification, clay films, dry consistence, and soil thickness are identified as useful and easy‐to‐obtain soil parameters, which are generally closely related to soil age. Most soil properties exhibit their greatest changes during certain phases of soil development, e.g., soil structure in soils < 10,000 y and rubification in soils > 100,000 y. The specific time spans of major changes of soil properties need to be considered, when looking for appropriate parameters to study a particular chronosequence. Indices, which combine several soil properties having their greatest changes in different phases of soil development, are useful to study soil chronosequences comprising large time spans, e.g., from Holocene to Middle Pleistocene. It is important to be aware that soil chronofunctions obtained from Pleistocene soils integrate rates of soil‐forming processes over periods of very variable climate and environment, and that soil development crossed internal and external pedogenic thresholds that are not reflected in soil chronofunctions.     

Soil science horizons: Progress and prospects

The main tendencies in the development of Russian soil science after the previous congress (Novosibirsk, 2004) are analyzed. The major achievements of Russian pedologists in the field of the geography and cartography of soils are outlined, including the development of new small-scale maps of Russia and particular regions and the study of soils of northern territories. The latest data on the emission of greenhouse gases from soils of Russia are analyzed. It is shown that expectations of a sharp increase in the emission of greenhouse gases from the soils of northern territories in relation to the predicted climate warming are groundless. At the same time, the widespread development of soil degradation processes and the conversion of former agricultural lands into other land categories are the matters of deep concern of Russian soil scientists. The need in activation of the work of the Dokuchaev Soil Science Society in the field of the development of legislative regulations of soil management and rational use of land resources is stressed. The organization of the Soil Conservation Service in Russia, the adoption a federal law on soil conservation, the development of the national soil-geographic database, and the practical implementation of soil certification and soil-ecological monitoring are considered to be major challenges facing Russian soil scientists in the nearest future.     

Zur systematischen Stellung und Bodenentwicklung des Tschernosems des Oberrheintales und der Smonica in Rheinhessen

Systematical status and soil development of the Tschernosem des Oberrheintales and the Smonica of Rheinhessen (W-Germany) The Tschernosem des Oberrheintales and the Smonica of Rheinhessen are discussed respectively to their position in the soil system of the Federal Republik of Germany, as well as in the FAO/Unesco classification and USDA Soil Taxonomy. Both soils are subrelictic, and the recent behavior of the Smonica does not allow it to be placed among the Vertisols. The history of these soils is described as investigated by field work, palynology and micromorphology. Some connecting profiles between the exposed ones have been outlined.     

Mountain-meadow soils of the highlands in the Western Caucasus

The published and author’s data on soil-forming conditions, morphology, substance composition and physicochemical properties, total chemical and mineralogical composition, and micromorphology of mountain-meadow soils of the Western Caucasus Range are analyzed. On the basis of the analytical data obtained, the transformation of minerals and features of chemical element profile patterns developed in the course of soil formation are characterized. The main processes accompanying the transformation of mineral and organic parts of the soil mass and migration of soil-formation products are described. Soil formation is shown to be accompanied by two major elementary soil processes developing with participation of soil biota: humus accumulation and clay formation. Ways to improve the classification of mountain-meadow soils are proposed.     

土壤发育指数及其在黄土──古土壤序列中的应用

以洛川坡头和兰州九州台黄土剖面为例，系统地观测和描述了各层黄土与古土壤的形态（包括微形态）特征，选取了１０个土壤形态属性以评价古土壤发育状况：红化作用（颜色彩度和色调）、总质地（质地类型、粘结性和可塑性）、黑化作用（颜色亮度）、微结构（类型、结构性发育程度、孔隙类型和总孔度）、细物质（丰度）、原生碳酸盐（丰度）、黑云母（丰度及蚀变程度）、铁氧化物（丰度）、次生碳酸盐（类型及丰度）和淀积粘粒（干涉色、淀积粘粒特征、胶膜丰度、胶膜厚度）。在此基础上，建立了土壤发育指数，并初步讨论了该指数在环境变化研究方面的应用。     

A quaternary soil sequence in the Kennet Valley,central southern England

The field characteristics, texture, mineralogy and micromorphology of the soils of four chronologically separate river terraces of the River Kennet are described. The soils on the three uppermost terraces have illuvial (palaeoargillic) horizons, which have been intensely disturbed by periglacial activity. These horizons are overlain by similarly disrupted eluvial horizons mixed with aeolian silts derived from outside the Kennet catchment. The illuvial horizons most probably result from interglacial pedogenesis under climatic conditions warmer and wetter than at present, whilst the aeolian material was probably added to the soils during the last glacial period (Devensian). The lowest and youngest terrace is characterised by an undisturbed (normal argillic) soil developed in loams derived predominantly from the aeolian silts. Consequently, it is postulated that the soils of the lowest terrace owe their characteristics to a phase of postglacial pedogenesis.The results illustrate that several phases of pedogenesis can be recognised, which provide important information on the Quaternary development of the area. This is especially significant where floral, faunal, or archaeological evidence of environmental changes is unavailable.     

微尺度重金属土壤化学研究进展与展望

土壤重金属污染是我国面临的重要生态环境问题,有效管控与修复重金属污染土壤有必要弄清重金属与土壤固相组分的作用机制。土壤组成多样、结构复杂、空间异质,加之土壤团聚体粒径大小不一,形成微观结构和表面性质各异的土壤微域,控制着重金属的形态转化及生物有效性。因此,深入认识微尺度的重金属土壤化学对于预测和管控土壤重金属环境化学行为至关重要。同步辐射X射线微探针(Microprobe)、X射线扫描透射显微术(STXM)及纳米二次离子质谱技术(Nano SIMS)等技术具有微纳米级空间分辨率,为在环境意义尺度上探究微尺度重金属土壤化学提供了独特的支撑平台。本文从环境土壤化学发展历程及当前发展瓶颈、现代微尺度分析技术及其在微尺度重金属土壤化学中的应用进展等方面综述,并对该领域未来的发展进行了展望。     

Tomographic method of studying soil pore space: Current perspectives and results for some Russian soils

The methods and results of tomographic soil studies are discussed. A brief history of the development of the tomographic method and its application in soil science are described, and the major results obtained with the use of this method are outlined. An experience of the application of X-ray microtomography for studying the structure of undisturbed samples of some Russian soils is also considered. Three-dimensional images of soil aggregates and soil pore space with a resolution of 15.8 ??m have been obtained for the upper horizons of gray forest and soddy-podzolic soils. On the basis of these data, the merits and demerits of the tomographic method in comparison with the traditional method for studying soil pedality and pore space in thin sections are discussed. Certain advantages of the tomographic method provide good possibilities to study soil processes at a qualitatively new level. Priority directions of the development of tomographic studies in soil science are outlined.     

Late Holocene land use at Orstad, Jæren, southwestern Norway, evidence from pollen analysis and soil micromorphology

Pollen analysis was combined with radiocarbon dating, physical, chemical and biological soil analyses and soil micromorphology, to investigate the prehistoric land use at Orstad, in Jæren, southwestern Norway.Orstad is an Early Bronze Age clearance cairn field in a cultural landscape with traces of land use back to the Neolithic. Samples were mainly collected from an 84 m long excavated trench with mainly podzolic soils. Although pollen preservation was poor, it was possible to differentiate five phases in the local vegetation and land use history. Human impact on the site could be traces back to about 4400–4000 BP uncal./3045–2600 cal. BC. Wheat and barley have been cultivated at Orstad during a period from ca. 3600 BP uncal./1945–1750 cal. BC until the Older Iron Age, when heather vegetation began to spread on the site.Soil micromorphology revealed different soil management practices for this time period: The soils seem to have been cleared by fire, prior to cultivation until ca. 3200 BP uncal./1610–1455 cal. BC. Then, new cultivation fields were laid out on higher levels, and seem to have been improved by adding of organic materials, mainly turves taken from podzolic top soils and peats from nearby localities.     

Predicting the saturated hydraulic conductivity of compacted subsoils using the non-similar media concept

It is widely recognized that saturated hydraulic conductivity is dominated by the micromorphology of soil pores rather than by the merely total porosity or dry bulk density. Nevertheless, some researchers are reporting that the decrease in saturated hydraulic conductivity of subsoil is simply associated with the decrease in soil porosity or increase in dry bulk density. Based on these understandings in published papers and on our preliminary field investigation, we assumed that micromorphology of soil pores in topsoils is subjected to be destroyed with continuous disturbance by frequent tillage while subsoils tend to be compacted without serious changes of micromorphology of soil pores. Thus, we focused on finding the dependence of saturated hydraulic conductivity on dry bulk density by separating the soils into tilled layer and compacted layer. The objective of this study was to describe the relationship between saturated hydraulic conductivity and dry bulk density using a theoretical model, the non-similar media concept (NSMC) model, capable of predicting saturated hydraulic conductivities of soils with different values of dry bulk densities. The study area was located near the Tone River in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, where the soils were classified into Haplic Brown Lowland Soils according to the Classification of Cultivated Soils in Japan (Eutric Fluvisol according to FAO/UNESCO). Two sites, where the topsoils were seasonally tilled while the subsoils were sustained as it is, and another site where the topsoil was seasonally tilled, too, but extra deep tillage (1 m tillage depth) had been done, were chosen for the measurements. The saturated hydraulic conductivities and dry bulk densities of undisturbed soil cores from different depths were measured in the laboratory. The NSMC model was carefully applied only when the soil textures were the same among samples. The well-known conventional equations formulated by Kozeny–Carman and by Campbell, were used to compare the applicabilities with the NSMC model. The NSMC model succeeded in predicting the saturated hydraulic conductivities in the compacted subsoils. On the other hand, the NSMC model was not applicable to the tilled topsoils and to the deeply tilled subsoil. The saturated hydraulic conductivity of tilled topsoils and deeply tilled subsoil was always lower than that of compacted subsoils at the same dry bulk densities. The Kozeny–Carman and Campbell equations both failed in the prediction of saturated hydraulic conductivity in subsoil. It was concluded that the saturated hydraulic conductivity of subsoils under compaction without extreme disturbance is well related with its dry bulk density by the NSMC model.     

白鹿原人工果树林地土壤和农耕地土壤微形态对比研究

选择白鹿原人工果树林地土壤和耕地土壤为研究对象,用偏光显微镜和Qwin软件对土壤微形态进行了观察和定量分析。结果表明:两种土壤和土壤粗颗粒的矿物组合基本一致,主要由石英和长石组成,但颗粒的形态和粒径有一定差别;林地土壤中主要是孔道和填充孔隙,孔隙壁较光滑,剖面中微形态连续变化,而耕地土壤的孔隙形态复杂,孔隙壁相对较粗糙,从上向下微结构明显变化,其中20 cm和35 cm是两个重要转折点;大量隐晶方解石反映土壤环境频繁变化,大量针状方解石出现在犁底层中下部并指示一种短期稳定的土壤环境,大量细晶方解石反映长期稳定的土壤环境。     

生物炭引起的土体回弹变化：土壤质地和生物炭用量的影响

Biochars are,amongst other available amendment materials,considered as an attractive tool in agriculture for carbon sequestration and improvement of soil functions.The latter is widely discussed as a consequence of improved physical quality of the amended soil.However,the mechanisms for this improvement are still poorly understood.This study investigated the effect of woodchip biochar amendment on micro-structural development,micro-and macro-structural stability,and resilience of two differently textured soils,fine sand (FS) and sandy loam (SL).Test substrates were prepared by adding 50 or 100 g kg-1 biochar to FS or SL.Total porosity and plant available water were significantly increased in both soils.Moreover,compressive strength of the aggregates was significantly decreased when biochar amount was doubled.Mechanical resilience of the aggregates at both micro-and macro-scale was improved in the biochar-amended soils,impacting the cohesion and compressive behavior.A combination of these effects will result in an improved pore structure and aeration.Consequently,the physicochemical environment for plants and microbes is improved.Furthermore,the improved stability properties will result in better capacity of the biochar-amended soil to recover from the myriad of mechanical stresses imposed under arable systems,including vehicle traffic,to the weight of overburden soil.However,it was noted that doubling the amendment rate did not in any case offer any remarkable additional improvement in these properties,suggesting a further need to investigate the optimal amendment rate.     

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.     

Evolution of the soil cover of soccer fields

A soccer field can be considered a soil-like technogenic formation (STF). According to the theory of soil cover patterns, the artificially constructed (anthropogenic) soil cover of a soccer field is an analogue of a relatively homogeneous elementary soil area. However, the spatial homogeneity of the upper part (50–80 cm) of the STF of soccer fields is unstable and is subjected to gradual transformation under the impact of pedogenetic processes, agrotechnical loads, and mechanical loads during the games. This transformation is favored by the initial heterogeneity of the deep (buried) parts of the STF profile. The technogenic factors and elementary pedogenetic processes specify the dynamic functioning regime of the STF. In 50–75 years, the upper part of the STF is transformed into soil-like bodies with properties close to those in zonal soils. Certain micro- and nanopatterns of the soil cover are developed within the field creating its spatial heterogeneity.     

Pedodiversity and Its Significance in the Context of Modern Soil Geography

Methodological basics of the study and quantitative assessment of pedodiversity are discussed. It is shown that the application of various indices and models of pedodiversity can be feasible for solving three major issues in pedology: a comparative geographical analysis of different territories, a comparative historical analysis of soil development in the course of landscape evolution, and the analysis of relationships between biodiversity and pedodiversity. Analogous geographic concepts of geodiversity and landscape diversity are also discussed. Certain limitations in the use of quantitative estimates of pedodiversity related to their linkage to the particular soil classification systems and with the initial soil maps are considered. Problems of the interpretation of the results of pedodiversity assessments are emphasized. It is shown that scientific explanations of biodiversity cannot be adequately applied in soil studies. Promising directions of further studies of pedodiversity are outlined. They include the assessment of the functional diversity of soils on the basis of data on their properties, integration with geostatistical methods of evaluation of soil variability, and assessment of pedodiversity on different scales.     

Impacts of long‐term waste‐water irrigation on the development of sandy Luvisols: consequences for metal pollutant distributions

Studies relating macro‐ and microscopic aspects of impacts of long‐term contaminative practices on soils are scarce. We performed such an approach by assessing the fate of metal pollutants in an area close to Paris, where sandy Luvisols were irrigated for 100 years with urban waste water. As a result, these soils display strong accumulation of organic matter, dissolved salts and metal pollutants in surface horizons, but also migration of metals to depth. We examined soil development and metal distribution patterns in two irrigated soils, in comparison with a non‐irrigated reference soil. Soil macromorphological characteristics were studied in the field. Soil micromorphology and micro‐scale metal distributions were both studied in situ in thin sections, the latter by synchrotron X‐ray mapping. Microscopic study focussed on characteristic parts of the Ap and Bt horizons, mainly involved in metal retention. For Ap horizons, both large and diffuse metal concentrations were revealed, mainly associated with organic matter and dissolved components added by irrigation water. For Bt horizons, zinc accumulation was detected on clay‐iron coatings. Our results suggest that with time, a double metal‐filtering capacity has developed in these sandy Luvisols: in the Ap horizon, an anthropogenic filter resulted from input of metal pollutants together with highly reactive organic matter, carbonates and phosphates, thus favouring metal immobilization and limiting migration to depth. In the Bt horizon, the evidence is of a second, natural filter. However, this filtering capacity is endangered by clay destruction due to ferrolysis, as revealed by micromorphology. Ferrolysis, here initiated by intensive irrigation practices, leads to a reduction of the natural filtering potential and an increasing risk of metal transfer towards the groundwater.     

Differential effects of soil properties on leaf nitrogen release

 Identifying the determinants of the N dynamics of plant prunings or litter is important for the efficient management of agroecosystems in order to improve their productivity. The plant materials in these ecosystems are managed as soil surface mulches or are incorporated into the soil. Numerous studies have been conducted to investigate which plant chemical parameter best governs N release. In these studies, different plant materials have been incorporated into a soil with a set of known characteristics. The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of different soil properties on N release from plant leaves, when they were incorporated into soils under non-leaching conditions. A laboratory incubation experiment (for 8 weeks) was carried out with dried and ground leaves of six leguminous plants and wild sunflower, which were mixed with three soils (alfisol; ultisol, udult; ultisol, humult). Leaf cellulose was the major chemical parameter that determined leaf N release in the alfisol and ultisol, udult. In the ultisol, humult, the C/N ratio and hemicellulose concentration were better related to N release. Cellulose was not a good indicator of N release in the ultisol, humult, possibly due to a low soil pH which did not favour the activity of the cellulose-degrading enzymes of microbes active in decomposition. Soil pH determined the specific C source that was used to generate energy for microbial action and N mineralization/immobilization. It also had an effect on the nitrification of the mineralized N. The levels of labile soil C fractions governed the mode or nature of N release (i.e. mineralization or immobilization). The levels of labile leaf C fractions incorporated into the soils governed the extent of N release. The soil N concentration in the decomposable organic matter pool, as compared to the leaf N concentration, determined whether leaf N limited its own release. It is recommended from this study that, in grouping different leaf materials as sources of N, the properties of soils into which they are incorporated should also be considered, in addition to leaf quality in terms of its chemical composition. In future studies, the relationships identified under laboratory conditions in this experiment should be verified under field conditions. Received: 3 December 1997     

Higher levels of description—approaches to the micromorphological characterisation of Russian soils

Several attempts were made in the past to identify high-level soil microfabrics, following the ideas of Kubiëna. They resulted in proposals to identify specific fabric types, soil materials, somas, formations, or morphotypes, based on the combinations of micromorphological characteristics of the studied horizons of soils. These units present complex (integrated, typical, and central) micromorphological images of soil horizons or materials. Using the available information on Russian soils, the author defined the “micromorphotypes” of soil horizons by illustrating this approach by two examples of simple and complicated genetic horizons. Emphasis was put on genetic and diagnostic aspects of micromorphological interpretations, which is traditional for Russian micromorphological studies. Moreover, the definition of “micromorphotypes” was derived from the ideas of diagnostic horizons, which serve as a base for the new Russian soil classification system. Examples of “micromorphotypes” are discussed for a Chernozem and major mineral horizons of loamy soils with textural profile (correlated with Albeluvisols in the WRB system). They illustrate the morphogenetic principles applied, and also bring to light some problems concerning the choice and hierarchy of criteria used for a number of soils.This “micromorphotypes” approach may contribute to the diagnostics of horizons for soil classification, for detection of human impacts, and for the identification of paleosols and their diagenetic changes. To facilitate contacts with nonprofessionals in micromorphology, a simple terminology and a priority of pedogenic principles seem to be preferable.     

鄂东南崩壁不同深度土层微形态特征及稳定性评价

为了深入认识崩壁不同深度土层微观结构特征和稳定性状况,选取鄂东南通城县一处发育完整的崩壁为研究对象,通过观察土壤薄片,定量和定性分析了崩壁6个不同深度土层的微形态特征,在此基础上,采用主成分分析对崩壁稳定性进行评价,并构建了崩壁稳定性评价体系的微形态指标最小数据集(MDS)。结果表明:(1)崩壁不同深度土层微形态差异显著。表土层土壤基质颜色呈现暗红色,基质比较高(0.91),团聚体和孔隙状况发育成熟,孔隙连通性较好。红土层基质颜色以红色为基调,随深度增加逐渐变浅,基质比为0.69(平均值),土壤团聚体结构弱发育,孔隙类型以囊孔和裂隙为主,连通性较差。砂土层主要以未风化完全的矿物颗粒为主,基质比极低(0.25),孔隙类型以矿物颗粒间隙为主。(2)各土层稳定性微形态评价得分从大到小排序为:表土层(TC₁)>红土层(TC₂>TC₃>TC₄)>砂土层(TC₅>TC₆),与多数土壤微形态指标间呈现显著正相关(p<0.05)。(3)崩壁土体稳定性微形态评价的最小数据集(MDS)由土壤基质颜色、土壤基质类型、土壤基质比、土壤团聚体、土壤微结构、总孔隙百分比和有机质含量7个指标构成。综上,不同深度土层微形态特征差异是崩壁土体稳定性具有层次分异性的重要因素之一。基于土壤微形态分析及建立的最小数据集评价体系,可以对崩壁土体的稳定性进行初步的监测。