Permafrost Affected Soils of the Alazeya River Basin: Properties, Mineralogy and Classification

Abstract

Physico-chemical properties and vertical distribution patterns of clay minerals in the weakly differentiated soils were studied. The soils are located in the Kolyma lowland plain; they have formed in a cold and ultracontinental climate. The study objects cover a broad range of the landscape diversity: the marsh and alas meadows and typical northern taiga landscapes. Despite the fact that weathering processes are weakly developed at high latitudes, mineral transformation represented by chlorite-illite association led to presence of (i) vermiculite in the acidic soil horizons of the alas meadow and the zonal northern taiga landscapes and (ii) iron hydroxide – lepidocrocite in the profile from the marsh meadow. It was shown that classification of the Kriozem located in the open woodland landscapes that are typical in the northern taiga does not cause difficulties based on the profile-genetic approaches of the national classification system. Oppositely, classification of the permafrost affected soils located in the intrazone landscapes of the marsh and alas meadows should be further clarified.