SALT-AFFECTED SOILS OF BASINS IN THE SOUTH OF EASTERN SIBERIA

Abstract

The monograph presents information on salt-affected soils in a vast and poorly studied region of intermontane basins in the south of Eastern Siberia; data on several hundred soil profiles studied by the author, as well as published and archieve materials are summarized. Specific features of salt-affected soils, their distribution patterns, formation factors, genesis, and further development of salinization processes in relation to climate change are discussed. Natural factors affecting soil salinity (climatic, hydrogeological, hydrological, geological, the presence of permafrost, etc.) are considered in detail on the basis of a large amount of factual materials. Recent climate changes patterns in the region are analyzed for a period from 1955 to 2020. In addition, data on chemistry and mineralization of dozens of georeferenced salt lakes, mineral springs, and documented gypsum and salt outcrops are also presented and can be used as a reference material. On the basis of the created vector maps of soil salinity, the areas of saline and solonetzic soils have been calculated; area estimates are given with respect to the depth, degree, and chemistry of soil salinization in four regions: Khakassia, south of Krasnoyarsk region, Tuva, and Buryatia. A statistical analysis of the properties of saline soils at different hierarchical levels - region, basin, type of soil - indicates that the most significant differences in soil salinity manifest themselves at the level of basin landscapes. The book is illustrated with 167 figures; 368 photographs of soil profiles, landscapes, and plants are presented. This monograph is intended for soil scientists, geographers, ecologists, specialists in land reclamation and agriculture, as well as for teachers and students of natural sciences.