Soils of Steppe areas in the Cis-Tundra Open Woodland Subzone on the Right Bank of the Kolyma River in Its Lower Reaches

Abstract

The small steppe plots (steppoids) occur at southern slopes among open larch forests of the Lower Kolyma area (northeast Siberia). Depending on a soil parent material they are divided into petrophytic (on a bedrock eluvo-diluvium) and thermophytic (on a silty loam of the Yedoma formation (Ice Complex)) steppoids. A xeromorphic deep thawing soils with diverse humus accumulative horizons, high roots content and considerable water stable powder-like structure develop under steppoids. Soils of steppoids are zooturbated, especially thermophytic ones. They differ from those of the surrounding taiga landscape in the following features: decreased actual and potential acidity; higher content of exchange bases, water-soluble salts, carbonates and organic nitrogen; smaller ratio between concentrations of oxalate- and dithionite-extractable iron. Dark mulle-like forms of humus on the surface of mineral grains are widely represented among the microaccumulations of organic matter in taiga-steppe soils. The cryoxerozem soil formation trait shows better in the event of petrophytic steppoids. Despite the similarity of the soils of thermophytic steppoids with steppe cryoarid ones, they differ in the absence of carbonate accumulative and criohumic horizons as well as the relatively high acidity. Flow-carbonaceous grey-humus lithozem and flow-carbonaceous grey-humus or duff dark-humus soils are distinguished within the petrophytic steppoids just as surface-turbated (zooturbated) grey-humus or duff dark-humus soils are distinguished within the thermophytic steppoids.