Том 50, № 8 (2017)

A detailed study of the soil cover of a sinkhole (300 m²) in the dry steppe landscape of the Bogdinsk–Baskunchak Natural Reserve in Astrakhan oblast has been performed, and the factors of its differentiation have been analyzed. The indices of pedodiversity have been calculated and compared for karst sinkholes in the dry steppe and northern taiga landscapes. Quantitative parameters of the lateral migration of solid soil substances on the slopes of the sinkhole have been determined. The rate of soil erosion decreases from the slope of southern aspect to the slopes of western, northern, and eastern aspects. On the average, it is estimated at 0.4 mm/yr. The average rate of accumulation of solid substances on the lower parts of the slopes and in the bottom of the sinkhole reaches 0.74 mm/yr. A comparative analysis of the soil properties attests to their dependence on the particular position of a given soil within the sinkhole. Downward the slopes of the sinkhole, full-profile brown arid soils (Cambic Calcisols) are replaced by sierozem-like soils (Haplic Calcisols), light-humus poorly developed soils (Luvisols), lithozems (Leptosols), and stratified soils (stratozems, or Colluvic Regosols). The soils within the upper ring-shape soil microzone are more diverse and contrasting with respect to their morphological, physical, chemical, and physicochemical properties. The degree of soil contrasts decreases down the slopes of the sinkhole towards its bottom. The studied sinkhole is characterized by considerable pedodiversity. Quantitative parameters of pedodiversity for the sinkhole in the dry steppe zone are higher than those form the sinkholes in the northern taiga zone.

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.

Particle-size distribution in soddy-podzolic and light gray forest soils of the Botanical Garden of Kazan Federal University has been studied. The cluster analysis of data on the samples from genetic soil horizons attests to the lithological heterogeneity of the profiles of all the studied soils. It is probable that they are developed from the two-layered sediments with the upper colluvial layer underlain by the alluvial layer. According to the discriminant analysis, the major contribution to the discrimination of colluvial and alluvial layers is that of the fraction >0.25 mm. The results of canonical analysis show that there is only one significant discriminant function that separates alluvial and colluvial sediments on the investigated territory. The discriminant function correlates with the contents of fractions 0.05–0.01, 0.25–0.05, and >0.25 mm. Classification functions making it possible to distinguish between alluvial and colluvial sediments have been calculated. Statistical assessment of particle-size distribution data obtained for the plow horizons on ten plowed fields within the garden indicates that this horizon is formed from colluvial sediments. We conclude that the contents of separate fractions and their ratios cannot be used as a universal criterion of the lithological heterogeneity. However, adequate combination of the cluster and discriminant analyses makes it possible to give a comprehensive assessment of the lithology of soil samples from data on the contents of sand and silt fractions, which considerably increases the information value and reliability of the results.

To elucidate the mechanism of moistening and overmoistening of soils and mineral soil components capable of chemical hydration, the sorption of water vapor has been studied in combination with synchronous conductometric measurements. Effect of organic polyelectrolyte molecules on the hydration kinetics and the formation of hydrate films on their surface has been revealed for dehydrated calcium silicate and aluminate simulating minor soil components. The plotting of sorption–desorption curves has shown that hydrate–polymer films formed by aliphatic or aromatic polyelectrolytes with different functional groups (–COOH,–OH,–NH₂,–CONH, etc.) significantly vary in dispersion and structure. The changes in dispersion during hydration are frequently not correlated with the amount of resulting hydrates, the content of which is controlled by the crystallochemical features of sorbents, the structure and activity of the polymer functional groups, and the conditions of sorption kinetic studies. It has been shown that the formation of low-permeable surface organomineral layers is typical for aliphatic polyelectrolytes, while more permeable layers determining the water-physical and structure-forming properties of soils are typical for aromatic polyelectrolytes.

Specific structural and dynamic parameters of communities from various ecological and trophic groups of microorganisms and algae in the litter of artificial tree stands were studied using the example of the Staro-Berdyansky Forest in the steppe zone of Ukraine. The composition of the communities was shown to vary by seasons and depend on the forest-forming woody species. In spring, in all the litters, the maximal number of actinomycetes and aminotrophs was recorded; in the leaf litter, the number of phosphate-mobilizing organisms was also the largest. In summer, the development of cellulolytic organisms, ammonifiers, and nitrogen-fixers was intensified; in autumn, the number of micromycetes and oligotrophic organisms decreased. The composition of dominants, the species richness of algae and their abundance also varied by seasons. Representatives of the Chlorophyta division predominated. The highest species richness of algae was characteristic of the spring litter samples, and their number, for the spring and autumn ones. The positive correlation was established between the numbers of micromycetes and oligotrophs, micromycetes and algae. The negative correlation was found between the numbers of micromycetes and actinomycetes, cellulose-decompose bacteria and algae in the litters.

Living cultural strains of the green algae ‘Chlorella’ mirabilis and Muriella terrestris have been isolated from buried soils, and their identification has been confirmed by morphological and molecular-genetic analysis. It has been shown that the retention of their viability could be related to their small size and the presence of sporopollenin in cell walls. The effect of methods for the reactivation of dormant microbial forms on the growth of algae in paleosols has been estimated. The total DNA content has been determined in buried and recent background soils, and relationship between DNA and the presence and age of burial has been established.

The mineralogy of soils and parent rocks of the Iremel Ridge has been studied by the methods of micromorphology, laser diffraction, computed X-ray microtomography, and X-ray fluorescence analysis. In hard rock and soil, the major minerals have been identified: quartz, illite, and a chlorite-group mineral (Fe analogue of sudoite), as well as accessory minerals: monazite, xenotime, rutile, zircon, and florencite. It has been found that chlorite, illite, and quartz are present in all horizons of the studied peaty-podzolic soil. Insignificant amounts of mixed-layered mineral and kaolinite could be suggested in the T and EL horizons of peaty-podzolic soil. The mixed-layered mineral is most probably of soil origin, which is related to the transformation of illites inherited from the parent rock under acidic conditions.

The influence of red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) plants on the decomposition of phenanthrene and octadecane in the soil has been studied. Effect of plant root mass on the abundance of hydrocarbondegrading bacteria, the composition of their communities, and the degradation of hydrocarbons in the soil has been revealed. Changes in the taxonomic composition of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria under the effect of red clover are characterized by an increase in the abundance of species from the genera Acinetobacter, Kaistia, Novosphingobium, Pseudomonas, and Xanthomonas. A positive effect of the studied microbial–plant association on the degradation of octadecane and especially phenanthrene in the soil has been revealed.