Soils of Arid Territories in Central Kalmykia (Priyutnensk District)

The characteristics of soils of the Kalmyk Republic is given by the example of the Priyutnensk district. Parameters of fertility, the organic matter content, medium reaction in water extract (pH), salt composition, and alkalinity, of soils of five settlements in Priyutnensk district of Kalmykia are studied. We have determined the content of organic carbon (C_org) by the method by I.V. Tyurin (1965) modified by V.N. Simakov (GOST…, 1993), the pH of soils by the potentiometric method (GOST…, 1985), and chemical composition of soils by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, using a MAKS-GV spectroscope. The studies of solonetzes and light chestnut soils of Priyutnensk district show the domination of soils with low and very low humus content: less than 3.5%. The reaction of the soil solution is slightly alkaline and alkaline. The soils are saline in the upper 20-cm-thick layer, the content of exchangeable magnesium does not exceed 0.74%, the calcium content is 0.96%, and carbonates are present. The pH value is lowest at the edge of settlements and highest on the territory of a school and in the center of settlements. There is a tendency to a decrease in the chloride content from the background to the center. There is no a pronounced dependence of changes in other soil parameters in all settlements from the center to the background.