More than a hundred years ago, V.V. Dokuchaev established the geographic zonality by which the main types of soils on Earth are located. It shows where fertile soils, tundra, serozems are located. On the territory of Russia, zoning is manifested brighter than in other countries. This is due to the large length of the country from south to north and the prevalence of flat terrain.
Soil types
On the territory of the Russian Federation, a zonal change of soils is clearly traced. There are tundra lands, gley, sod-podzolic, podzolic, brown and gray, fertile soils (chernozems), semi-deserts, chestnut, gray soils, gray-brown. In the subtropics, red soils and yellow soils are common. In the mountains, a feature of soil change is altitudinal zoning. All types are divided by composition, structure. The classification is also affected by soil fertility.
Type Description
The northern part of the country is represented by tundra-gley soils. They are thin, contain a small amount of oxygen. A wide variety of land types are common in the forest zone. In the taiga, podzolic lands are formed under coniferous forests. Due to the decomposition of coniferous litter, acids are formed that enhance mineralization and organic decay. Humus is washed from the upper layers of water and transferred to the lower layers. As a result, the upper layers become whitish, which is why they got their name - podzol. If the top layer is enriched in humus, then such land is called sod-podzolic.
In the zone of forest-steppes, the most fertile soils — chernozems — are formed. They are characterized by the absence of a washing regime, and because of the steppe plants, the soil is enriched with organic substances. Because of this, a large layer of humus is formed. In arid lands, a chestnut layer forms. They are low in humus. Such soils are found to the south, where the climate is dry and warm, and vegetation is rare. With a close occurrence of groundwater, salt marshes form.
Black earth
The most fertile soil is considered chernozem. It is characterized by black color, grain-lumpy structure. This type of land is formed under grass vegetation in the steppe and forest-steppe zone.
For chernozem, the following is characteristic:
- A large amount of humus. Chernozem contains up to fifteen percent of humus. Because of this, such lands are highly fertile.
- Many microorganisms. In each type of soil there are microorganisms, but it is in the chernozem that they are most.
- The fertile soils of Russia have a granular-lumpy structure.
Harvest land
The chernozem soils have the highest productivity. In areas with such land, warm temperatures prevail, stimulating the metabolic rate in plants.
Natural conditions play a significant role in the creation of soils, which form a favorable regime for the accumulation of nutrients and their conservation. In the black soil layer there are many worms, bacteria. They create favorable conditions for the cultivation of any species of plants.
Where does chernozem occur?
In addition to the territory of the Russian Federation, chernozem soils are found in America, Canada, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Black earth in Russia is about half of all the fertile lands of the planet. Also, chernozem in our territory has a rich composition, while in other countries these lands are poorer.
Types of black soil
And what are the best fertile soils of all types of black soil? The characteristics of black earth determine the species. So, according to this criterion, podzolized, typical, leached, southern land is distinguished. In central Russia, chernozem has about eight percent humus. The layers themselves lie a depth of not more than seventy centimeters.
Steppe chernozem is a typical species. It contains about ten percent of humus. In the strata of North America, the humus content is not more than three centimeters. And this despite the fact that land with its content of less than two percent is considered to be dead. Of all the black soils of Russia, Voronezh is considered the standard of fertility. It is even exhibited in the museum of France as a symbol of fertility.
Black soil formation
The formation of black soil is a long and complex process. It is influenced not only by flora and fauna, but also by the location of the land, the climate of the region. In the process of farming, if the land is not replenished with fertilizers, the quality of black soil is lost. The cut off fertile layer loses its properties after a few years. An example of this is the transportation of black earth strata to Germany in the post-war period. Years later, they lost their properties.
Sale of black soil
In recent years, soil sales have been growing rapidly. This leads to the destruction of black earth, the creation of which takes decades. The fertility of the earth is influenced by many factors, among which the main one is the type of plants growing on the ground. If the plant has a powerful root system, then the fertility of the chernozem will be better. This is due to the fact that large roots, when deepened, loosen the soil, allowing oxygen to penetrate deep into the reservoir. The most fertile soils are those on which trees and shrubs grow.
The use of black soil
Chernozem is delivered to various parts of the world. It is used in landscape design in large cities where land is depleted. In central Russia, chernozem soils are used to create the necessary fertile layer. With its help optimize water permeability, particle size distribution, density. After making soil on sandy lands, improvement, fertility improvement is observed.
Soils of Russia
The territory of Russia is huge, but there are few favorable land for agriculture. More than ten percent of the land is occupied by the tundra, about thirteen percent is wetland, and the same amount of land is used in agriculture. The most valuable lands make up about seven percent of the entire country. Half of them are in the Chernozem region: they produce about eighty percent of all the country's products. Under pastures and hayfields allot podzolic and chestnut lands.