Tundra soils: types and characteristics, formation conditions and improvement measures

Tundra is a northern natural zone, which is characterized by permafrost soil, sparse vegetation, and a constantly cold climate. Consider general information about the natural zone, climate, vegetation, geological data, formation conditions, types of tundra soils, their composition and characteristics. Possible use of tundra soils in agriculture.

General information about the natural area

Tundra, like other natural areas, is characterized by special climatic conditions, soil formation conditions, and vegetation.

Climatic conditions

From the north, the tundra borders on the Arctic desert, from the south - on the forest tundra, its width from north to south is about 500 km. The zone is located in the subarctic zone, occupies up to 10% of the territory of Russia, and is distributed in a strip from east to west. The peculiarity of the tundra is waterlogged and swampy lowlands, the soil is mostly rocky, swampy and peaty.

The tundra zone is characterized by a short cold summer, in July the temperature does not rise above a few degrees of heat, the winter is very long, with strong winds. There is little precipitation, only about 200-300 mm per year. However, the ground in the tundra is constantly waterlogged due to lack of heat, evaporation and the fact that the ground thaws in summer to an insignificant depth. Due to waterlogging, many lakes and swamps have formed in the tundra.

Tundra soil fertility is low, humus forms slowly and is blown from the surface by the wind.

Geological data

The geographical position of the tundra zone affects the characteristic climate. The sun does not give much heat, so the soil does not warm up enough to create good conditions for the development and reproduction of vegetation. Evaporation does not equal moisture, which is why the soil is always waterlogged. Use requires reclamation, that is, drainage.

Vegetation

Tundra vegetation is mostly mosses and lichens that don't need a lot of nutrients so they can thrive in poor tundra soils. Grow here and low grasses, cereals and sedges, polar poppies, wild rosemary, low crooked shrubs and trees, berries - cloudberries, blueberries, crowberries. Vegetation is more abundant in river valleys, where climatic conditions are milder.

Northern plants adapt to cold climates, have a short growing season, short stature helps to maximize the use of nutrients and heat, protects plants from freezing in the spring.Tundra plants serve as food for a few animals, for example, the diet of reindeer consists almost entirely of reindeer moss.

Educational conditions

Conditions for the formation of tundra soils: low temperatures, permafrost, excess moisture and parent rocks. Cold suspends biological and chemical processes. Excess moisture creates swampy areas, in conditions of soil formation oxygen-free prevail, also due to excess moisture and lack of oxygen in the pores of the soil. The conversion rate of organic residues is low, so the fertile layer is thin and takes a long time to form.

Tundra soils

The soils of this zone are represented by gley, brown, soddy soils and peat bogs. Despite their differences, they have much in common - they are often acidic and have low humus content.

Gley

The peculiarity of this type of soil is the presence of a gley horizon. The gleyed horizon looks like a gray or greenish-blue viscous mass, where air penetrates into it, reddish or ocher-colored spots appear, giving out the presence of iron hydroxides. Due to constant freezing and thawing, the transition from one horizon to another may not be clearly expressed. Gley soils are common in typical tundra, developing on loams, under moss and shrub vegetation.

In the table you can see the main characteristics of gley soils:

Characteristic	Value
Base saturation	60 %
Humus content	4-6 %
Fertile layer thickness	10 cm

Sour Browns

They are formed with good soil leaching and oxygen access, there is no moisture stagnation in them, aerobic processes occur. Brown acidic soils in the tundra are found in mountainous regions. Their distinctive characteristic is their high acidity.

Sod sour

They differ in the layered structure of the soil profile: a soddy layer of gray or brown-gray color, lumpy structure, with a mass of roots, then comes a thin humus layer, loose, grayish-brown. It passes into layered alluvium of various granulometric composition. The humus content is 1-2%, the reaction is neutral or slightly acidic, there are few nutrients.

Polygonal peatlands

Flow and transitional swamps are formed in lowlands, river valleys, runoff hollows. They form under the influence of excess water. As peat accumulates, the structure of peatlands changes, the top layer can reach a thickness of 10 cm. Moisture-loving vegetation grows on peat bogs, the diversity of which is much greater in lowland and transitional bogs than in raised bogs.

Marsh-tundra

They are spotted in the tundra.They form in areas without vegetation in different landscapes. A feature of such soil is a weak organogenic horizon. Under a thin layer of algae lies a mineral gleyed horizon. The color of marsh-tundra soils is bluish in color with ocher veins, the consistency is viscous, structureless. Adjacent to gley tundra soils.

Application of tundra soils in agriculture

Severe climate, permafrost lower horizon leaves an imprint on all types of tundra soils. They are waterlogged, often acidic, weak and infertile. Therefore, they are of little use for economic use.

They are mainly used for reindeer grazing, where the animals find food for themselves in winter and summer.Tundra soils become suitable for agriculture only after cultivation. In protected ground, that is, in greenhouses, cold-resistant species and varieties of vegetable crops, greens are grown. They grow onions, root crops, potatoes, cabbage.

Growing is possible only with sufficient doses of fertilizer. In open ground, the cultivation of cold-resistant types of crops is possible only on soils with a light sandy composition, which warm up quickly.

Tundra soils have characteristic features, morphological features are influenced by climate, geographical location, water regime, prevailing vegetation. They are distinguished by a thin upper layer, in which there is little humus, often gleyed lower horizon, viscous and impervious to air. Tundra soils become suitable for use in economic activity only when cultivated and artificially maintaining fertility.

Recommended