Soil Formation on Loamy Deposits in Technogenic Landscapes of the Taiga Zone in the Northeast of the European Part of Russia

Abstract

The formation of soils on loamy deposits during the primary succession of vegetation after biological reclamation of a technogenically disturbed area (quarry) in the middle taiga subzone of the northeast of European Russia (Komi Republic) is considered. The planting of Picea obovata on the reclaimed area activates the formation of the tree layer and helps to accelerate pedogenetic processes. In drained conditions, by the beginning of the third decade of succession, litter horizons were formed, soil bulk density in the upper mineral horizons decreased, and a tendency towards redistribution and differentiation of the clay fraction and iron and aluminum compounds in the soil profile was noted. The latter may indicate the beginning of eluviation. The heterogeneity of the quarry surface (presence of highs and lows with a height difference of up to 2–6 m) contributes to the redistribution of moisture within the quarry and the appearance of areas with surface waterlogging. Under these conditions, the role of conservation of organic residues (peat formation) is enhanced, and gleyzation processes are activated. With an increase in the degree of surface waterlogging of soils, the soil acidity and the stocks of soil carbon and nitrogen increase, which is typical for an analogous series of background soils. The calculated rate of organic carbon accumulation in the soil layer of 0–20 cm in drained soils of the quarry is about 0.4 t/ha per year. In the waterlogged soils, it increases to 1.0–1.2 t/ha per year. The stocks of organic carbon in the upper 20 cm of the profile of young soils remain two–four times lower in comparison with the background native soils.