Experiment of Quantitative Study of Variety of Mineral Soil Bodies (Pedomatrix)

Abstract

The question of the study of soil bodies (pedomatrids) independently of soil systems, although raised earlier, has not yet found a concrete reflection in the soil literature. Two groups of quantitative indicators of pedomatrids (granulometric and gross chemical compositions) have been converted to reflect not only their content but also their distribution in the soil profile. A total of 16 indicators were obtained for each pedomatrix. The soil data sample covered a fairly wide area of the European, West Siberian and Central Asian parts of the former USSR. To assess the macrostructure of the data sample, the pedomatrices were grouped according to these 16 indicators. Only a few groups with more than three objects each and many smaller groups with one object each have been found. On the one hand, this seems to confirm the independence of soil varieties from each other, but, on the other hand, the resulting groups are quite heterogeneous, both geographically and in terms of soil classification (according to the soil classifications of the USSR (1977) and Russia (2004)). This confirms the idea of V. O. Targulyan about the necessity of studying the geography and classification of soil bodies, regardless of soils.