Kallas Е.V.
DIVERSITY OF HUMUS PROFILES OF SOILS OF ECOTONE TAIGA — STEPPE SOUTH-EASTERN PART OF WESTERN SIBERIA ^{[№ 12 ' 2017]}
Knowledge of the history of soil formation and building models describing or even predicting their evolution are among the main challenges of genetic soil science. Such knowledge and models may help improving the prediction of the behaviour of soils and landscapes in a changing natural and built environment. The soil integrally reflects and records the action over time of all factors of pedogenesis in its properties and performs a global function in the biosphere — the information. One of the most reliable memory carriers is soil humus, which structure remains in the soil for a long time. The humus soil profile is a kind of “archive” that holds the encrypted information about the evolution of the environment at different stages of the soil formation. The aim of this work is to determine the characteristics of humic profiles and to show the diversity and complexity of their structure, reflecting the changing natural environment on the territory of the ecotone, taiga-steppe South-Eastern part of Western Siberia. Humus profiles as carriers of “soil memory” are considered on the example of soddy-podzolic soils and gray forest of soils under-taiga on the Tom-Yaya interfluve and chernozems of forest-steppe zone on Salair plain. Humus profiles reflect the contrasting evolution and fixed the phases and stages of soil formation in its structure, associated with changes in moisture and temperature. In humus profiles revealed several maxima the relationship of carbon of humic acids to carbon of fulvic acids, which also indicates a change in climatic conditions during the formation of soils. Thus, humus profiles save information about the features of the natural environment over a period of formation of the soil body in its characteristics, and therefore can serve as a “tool” for the reconstruction of the paleogeographic environment and can be used to construct models of the behaviour of soils in the future.

Kallas E.V., Nikitich P.A.
CONSERVATION INFORMATION ABOUT PEDOGENESIS IN HUMUS PROFILES OF SOILS ^{[№ 10 ' 2015]}
The soil integrally reflects and records the action over time of all factors of pedogenesis in its properties and performs a global function in the biosphere — the information. One of the most reliable memory carriers is soil humus, which structure remains in the soil for a long time. The humus soil profile is a kind of "archive" that holds the encrypted information about the evolution of the environment at different stages of the soil formation. Humus profiles as carriers of "soil memory" are considered through the example of soils of the Tom-Yaya watershed. Humus profiles of grey forest soils developed in the taiga–forest-steppe ecotone, reflect the complex contrasting evolution due to the displacement of landscape boundaries in the Holocene and leading to different stages of pedogenesis — change the steppe (meadow ) of the type of soil on the forest. The steppe (meadow) soil type replacing the timber soil type is reflected in the profile as a second humus horizon sharply different in the composition of humus from up- and under-lying areas of the humus profile. In particular this layer has a high accumulation of humic acids and calcium humates, a significant decrease in fulvic acids and extension of the relation Cha:Cfa to 2 or more units, which is typical of black earth soils and meadow-chernozem type of soil formation. On chernozem (meadow-chernozem) soil types, grey forest soils were formed in the Holocene Optimum, as evidenced by radiocarbon age of humic acids (3 750 years). It is shown that humus profiles reflect the characteristics of the evolution of soil and store in their properties and structure the information about the change in environment during the period of formation of the soil body, and therefore can serve as a "tool" for the reconstruction and used for modelling the behaviour of soils in the future.

Kallas E.V., Solovyeva T.P.
PROPERTIES OF STEPPE SOIL OF CENTRAL SIBERIA AND PROBLEM OF DEGRADATION ^{[№ 3 ' 2015]}
Soil properties are an important factor in soil degradation. They determine the stability of the soil against erosion and deflation. The aim of the research is to identify the particular properties of steppe soils of southern Siberia, which determine their resistance to degradation. Kastanozems, southem chernozems, gleysoils and solonchaks are studied. All soils are formed in depressions on lake Uskol (South-Minusinsk basin) and Gorkoe (Chulym-Yenisei basin). The southern chernozems and kastanozems are characterized by low humus content (3–5 %), low clay content (5 %) and high of sand particles (50 %), the weak degree of development morphological structure and mechanical strength of macro-aggregates, high content of carbonates (20 % and more), the absence of salinity. The investigated soils are used as cultivated and pasture land. They are characterized by high density of the composition of the humus horizon (1,23–1,27 g/cm³). Soil compaction is accompanied by a decrease in the number of inter-aggregate pores and increases the proportion of capillary pores. Involving soils in the cultivated and pasture land will be followed by sputtering structure, increased degradation, while secondary salinization in irrigated agriculture is not serious threat. Hydromorphic soils are more resistant to degradation processes, but they are saline, which does not allow them to use in agriculture. It is necessary to carry out activities aimed at protecting the soil from degradation and desertification on the cultivated and pasture land. You must use the adaptive-landscape system of agriculture, which take into account all the factors of water erosion, deflation and other forms of soil degradation.

Kallas E.V.
HUMUS PROFILS OF THE HYDROMORPHIC SOILS OF THE STEPPE AREA SOUTH SIBERIA ^{[№ 12 ' 2011]}
Humus profiles of the soils developed in the lake hollows are considered. Change of the level water reflect in the humus profile of the soils, which formed in the process of change different phases of humidity. It is shown that the humus profiles have complicated structure and fix information about the stages of soil formation for period development of the soil body.

Kallas E.V.
REFLECTION OF STAGING AND PHASINESS OF SOIL FORMATIONS IN HUMUS PROFILES OF FOREST-STEPPE SOILS IN KUZNETSK BASIN ^{[№ 6 ' 2009]}