Properties and genesis of soils in the Balagansk forest-steppe of Central Siberia and their ecological and resource potential

Abstract

The aim of the study. To study the properties and genesis of natural soils of forest-steppe areas of Balagansk steppe. Location and time. The environs of Balagansk settlement in the Balagansky district of Irkutsk region, 2013-2018. Methodology. Combined field and laboratory studies of soil cover and soil properties using soil-morphological, pedo-lithological, climatostratigraphic, botanical, geological-geomorphological and comparative geographical methods, as well as various physical and chemical analyses. Main results. The study of soil properties of the Balagansk’ forest-steppe and assessment of their classification position revealed the basic regularities of geographical distribution of soils. In steppe areas of the studied region clay-illuvial and textural-carbonate chernozems were formed. The forest vegetation favoured the developed of residual-carbonate gray, dark gray, gray and dark gray metamorphic and burozemic soils; the floodplain areas are predominantly occupied by gley soils and dark-humus gleic soils. Conclusion. The study of soil and vegetation cover of the Balagansk’ forest-steppe showed that soils were developed on the eluvium-deluvium of carbonate Cambrian red-colored siltstones and loess cover and have sufficiently high natural fertility and ecological and resource potential. The soils of the investigated area are characterized by a large variety and complex polygenetic structure of the soil profile, which reflects the change of soil formation’ conditions during Holocene-Pleistocene.