Abstract
The study of the pedogenic process in response to natural evolution, gradual anthropogenic shifts and engineering upheavals is of great significance for understanding, utilizing and transforming nature in the future. Although scholars have considered anthropic activities to be an important factor affecting pedogenesis, research on how and how much anthropic activities influence the soil-forming process is scant. This paper was conducted to analyse pedogenic characteristics dominated by anthropic activities. In this study, the parent materials and soils undergoing natural evolution (NE), tillage perturbation (TP) and engineering perturbation (EP) were selected as research objects. The genetic characteristics of soils undergoing NE, TP and EP are investigated mainly from three aspects: soil profile macromorphological characteristics, soil physical and chemical properties and chemical weathering characteristics. The results indicated that the influence of anthropic activities (TP and EP) on the process of pedogenesis is complicated. First, compared with NE, TP decreases the thickness of topsoil from 22.2 to 21.2 cm, while EP increases the thickness of topsoil from 22.2 to 23.2 cm, and EP causes the soil to have a high profile development index. Second, compared with TP, EP can improve bulk density (BD), soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN) and cation exchange capacity (CEC), Finally, the chemical weathering intensity differed among NE, TP and EP and followed the order of TP > NE > EP. Therefore, in the future, the genetic characteristics of soils dominated by anthropic activities should be considered. This will help us systematically understand the genesis and evolutionary characteristics of soil and lay a foundation for further perfecting the diagnostic horizon and diagnostic characteristics of the Soil Taxonomy and World Reference Base.
Highlights
The study of the pedogenic process in response to natural evolution, gradual anthropogenic shifts and engineering upheavals is of great significance for understanding, utilizing and transforming nature in the future
If effective artificial measures are adopted to achieve the purpose of sustainable scientific utilization and protection of soil, it is of great significance to study the impact of anthropic activities on the genesis and evolution of soil
The profile development index (PDI) was used to characterize the macromorphological characteristics of the soil profile and shows the order of T3 > T1 > T2 (Fig. 3)
Summary
The study of the pedogenic process in response to natural evolution, gradual anthropogenic shifts and engineering upheavals is of great significance for understanding, utilizing and transforming nature in the future. Soil formation is relatively slow and follows centuries to billions of years of natural e volution[5] This process of evolution tends towards the directional development of mature soil bodies to ensure their balance with the material and energy in the Mountainous Land, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, People’s Republic of China. The influence of anthropic activities on pedogenesis and evolution can be summarized as follows: (1) Changes in the macromorphological characteristics of a soil profile. Activities such as topsoil stripping and backfilling, sloping terrace construction and field ridge construction can strongly disturb the soil by changing the thickness and configuration of the soil layer . Periodic artificial flooding and drainage lead to the coupled processes of oxidation—reduction and leaching—deposition of iron during the evolution of paddy s oil[18]
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