Soils of the Lena-Angara Plateau in the area of the Kovykta gas condensate field

It is shown that soil-forming rocks—red calcareous silicate Lower Ordovician and Upper Cambrian deposits—play the leading role in the formation of unique long lastingly frozen mountainous taiga soils of Central Siberia. The functional role of the litter horizon forming under dark coniferous forests is analyzed. This horizon is sensitive to the bioclimatic factor. The genetic specificity of the predominating prepodzolic soils, podburs, soddy burozems, and soddy-calcareous soils and of the locally forming shallow pink-colored podzols is shown.