The regularities of the late Holocene soil formation in the lower don steppes

Abstract

The direction and stages of pedogenesis, rate and scales of changeability, and type of evolution of chernozems in the steppes of the Lower Don are ascertained by studying the archaeological monuments of the Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, and Middle Ages. It is shown that the soil formation process was characterized by cyclicity, and evolutional soil transformations took place at the level of subtype. The paper ascertains the polygenetic character of modern chernozems, whose evolution during the second half of the Holocene was predominantly low-contrast, inheriting, and transforming. The processes forming the humus, salt, gypsum, and carbonate profiles, as well as the processes of solonetzization-desolonetzization, were the most dynamic. The fundamental differences in the genesis of different parts of the humus profile are revealed. The role of climatically pulsing solonetzicity in forming the specific Azov chernozems is for the first time ascertained.