Morphological diagnostics of pedogenesis on the anthropogenically transformed floodplains in Moscow

At present, many parts of river valleys, including floodplains, are being actively used for urban construction. This leads to the disturbance of normal functioning of the valleys; alluvial deposits and soils become buried under the thickness of various anthropogenic materials. Four profiles of typical urban soils (urbanozems) developed on the floodplain of the Moskva River and its small tributaries have been studied. The macro- and micromorphological characteristics (including data of submicroscopic studies) and the chemical and physicochemical properties of these soils are analyzed. It is shown that the influence of ground-water on the anthropogenically transformed soils of floodplains and low terraces is preserved even upon the cessation of regular flooding. The substitution of urban pedosedimentogenesis for alluvial pedosedimentogenesis has a gradual character with a transitional stage of simultaneous occurrence of both processes. Clayey and clayey-calcareous infillings in the middle-profile horizons and newly formed phosphates of iron and calcium in the lower horizons affected by the groundwater can be considered typical diagnostic features of the urban-alluvial pedogenesis.