Soil-forming processes in profile textural-differentiated forest soils of the Cis-Carpathian region, Ukraine

Abstract

Throughout the history of soil science development, one of the most controversial issues was the explanation of the genesis of the profile textural-differentiated soils influenced by forest vegetation and climate conditions within the Cis-Carpathian region, Ukraine. Scientists' views on the formation of the eluvial-illuvial, namely granulometric content, and profile differentiation have been and remain ambiguous due to the contradictory criteria of diagnosing the processes of eluvial soil degradation (lessivage, podzolization, eluvial-gleying process) and the almost similar results of these processes. The complexity and ambiguous interpretation of the genetic nature of the profile textural-differentiated soils of the Cis-Carpathian region necessitates the development of clear diagnostic criteria for revealing their genetic nature. The purpose of the work is to establish the diagnostic criteria of elementary soil-forming processes in profile textural-differentiated forest soils of the Cis-Carpathian region based on the analysis of data on soil properties previously collected by the authors.

It has been established that in sod-podzolic soils formed under forest, the main profile-forming elementary process of soil formation is podzolization, which is characterized by the negative values of the eluvial-accumulative coefficients and the coefficient of change of the silicate part for the upper three horizons. The processes of lessivage and segregation are of little intensity in this type of soils. The main profile-forming elementary processes of soil formation in brown-podzolic soils (Neocambic Gleyic Retisols) are lessivage and inner soil argillization with little podzolization, the eluvial-gleying process and segregation effects.

Keywords: forest soils, argillanes, neoplasms, ortsteins, podsolization, elementary soil-forming processes, Cis-Carpathian region