Chemical composition of soils in the areas of volcanic ashfalls around active volcanoes in Kamchatka

Abstract

The geochemical features of volcanic soils (Andosols) in the northern soil province of Kamchatka are identified. The background regional concentrations (Cb_r) of most of chemical elements in the studied soils are lower than their average concentrations in soils of the world and in the European volcanic soils. Only Na, Ca, and Mg are present in elevated concentrations in all the studied soils in the north of Kamchatka. Regional background concentrations of elements are exceeded by 1.6 times in the area of active ashfalls of the Tolbachik volcano and by 1.3 times in the area of active ashfalls of the Shiveluch volcano. The concentrations of mobile forms of elements in these areas exceed their regional background concentrations by 2.1 and 2.6 times, respectively.