Specific features of the genesis of automorphic soils of the northern forest-tundra (southeast of the Bol'shezemel'skaya tundra)

Automorphic soils developed from sandy materials (podzolized podburs, (Entic Podzols) and iron-illuvial podzols (Haplic Podzols)) and loamy materials (organic cryometamorphic soils (Gelic Cambisols) and iron-illuvial svetlozems (Spodi-Stagnic Cambisols)) were studied in the northern forest-tundra zone. Podzolized podburs and podzols of tundra cenoses were less podzolized in comparison with the analogous soils developed under forest cenoses. This can be explained by a higher intensity of cryogenic processes favoring the fixation of iron-humus films on skeletal grains in the sandy soils of tundra cenoses. In the organic cryometamorphic soils, the illuviation of Al-Fe-humus compounds with the formation of bleached skeletans in the upper part of the mineral horizon was identified. The eluvial-illuvial differentiation of the soil mass diagnosed by the analyses of intraped mass was weakly pronounced. The features attributed to the activity of cryogenic processes were also described in these soils. Iron-illuvial svetlozems were characterized by the migration of iron compounds within the microprofile of podzol in the topsoil and by the specific well-structured cryometamorphic horizons in the lower part of the profile. The features inherited from the previous stages of soil development were identified in these soils.