Pedogenic Zonation in the Well-Drained Soils of the Arctic Regions

Abstract

Pedogenic zonation in the soils of the polar regions is a result of gradients in environmental factors and attendant chemical processes. Along a latitudinal transect, it is best manifested at well-drained sites and by soils developed on predominantly silicate rocks. Selected sites in arctic Alaska, in the Canadian arctic, Greenland, and Svalbard adequately fulfill these prerequisites. The processes of podzolization, decarbonization-carbonization, pervection, and salinization as models of arctic pedogenesis demonstrate that processes occurring in the temperate region also operate in the Far North. Brunification, melanization, and oxidation are recognized for the first time as current geochemical and pedogenic mechanisms of the Arctic region. Traditional genetic soil names have been retained because they represent a closer relationship to pedogenic processes than the more modern nomenclature. The identification, the chemical behavior, the strength, abundance, and mobility of the proton donors and conjugate bases are keys to the genesis of soils and the distinction of contrasting soil processes. This new approach to the understanding of arctic pedogenesis can be better fulfilled by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting soil solution obtained in situ.

Émersion des terres et développement des sols bien drainés au lac Guillaume-Delisle, Québec subarctique

“…Son intensité diminue avec la latitude (Ugolini, 1986 ;Ugolini et al, 1987). Dans l'Est du Canada, Moore (1978) a montré que des Podzols répondant aux critères du Système canadien de classification des sols (Groupe de travail sur la classification des sols, 2002) se développaient préférentiellement dans la forêt boréale et rarement dans la toundra forestière située plus au nord.…”

Soil processes and nutrient bioavailability in the rhizosphere of Bolax gummifera in a subantarctic environment (Martial Mountains, Ushuaia—Argentina)

“…formation of secondary minerals and to mobilization and transport of elements (mainly macro-and micronutrients) (Benner, 2004;Hartley et al, 2010). Weathering is favored by the presence of microorganisms, lichens and other biological structures that are capable of acidifying and thus altering the environment (Allen, 2005;Beyer et al, 2000;Ugolini, 1986). Previous research has shown that the microbial population in the RS differs either quantitatively or qualitatively from bulk soil and may vary with plant species, root zone and soil type (Rengel and Macchner, 2005;Marschner et al, 2001).…”

Small-scale variability of soil properties and soil–vegetation relationships in patterned ground on different lithologies (NW Italian Alps)

“…Frost churning in the central part of the analyzed patterns was evidenced by convoluted horizon boundaries, while the thinner and less weathered materials (corresponding to CA@ and C@ horizons) demonstrated upwelling from deeper depths caused by cryoturbation. Silt caps were observed in subsurface horizons in all soils, and were caused by either pervection (downward movement of silt particles through the profile associated with water movement during frost melting, Ugolini, 1986) or by the pressure created during the growth of ice lenses and/ or the compression during the seasonal two-directional freezing of the active layer (Ugolini et al, 2006). The platy structural aggregation with abundant vesicular pores in subsurface horizons was likely caused by the growth of ice lenses during the two-directional autumn freezing, while needle ice formation and, possibly, a weak bioturbation were associated with the fine granular or loose aggregation of surface layers .…”