Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
EARLY SOIL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS IN RUSSIA
The pre-Dokuchaev period of soil classiÝcation in Russia was the same as in other European
countries Ð agro-geological, chemical, and physical approaches to soil classiÝcation predominated
(Dobrovolsky and TroÝmov, 1996). The more advanced system was proposed by P.A. Kostychev
in 1886 (cited from Sibirtsev, 1966). The principal dimensions were based on physical properties,
whereas secondary groupings were chemical. The main divisions were the following:
I.
Clayey soils (containing at least 50% particles smaller than 0.01 mm)
1. Quartz or silicate
2. Clayey
3. Marly, calcareous, and dolomitic
4. Humus soils
a. bog (marsh)
b. muck
c. chernozem
5. Ferruginous (ferric and ferrous oxides)
6. Sulfate (gypsum)
7. Solonchaks
II. Loess soils (the term ÑloessÒ being, in the physical sense, a rock or soil with a predominance of
particles from 0.01 to 0.05 mm in diameter); the same seven secondary groups as in main division
I above.
III. Sandy loams with a predominance (50% and more) of particles from 0.05 to 0.5 mm; the same
seven secondary groups as in main division I above.
IV.
Sandy soils with a predominance of particles larger than 0.5 mm
1. Quartz or silicate
2. Calcareous
V.
Gravelly soils, with a predominance of particles larger than 2 mm
in diameter
1. Quartz or silicate
2. Calcareous
This system could be named as a physicochemical (Dobrovolsky and TroÝmov, 1996) or a
geological one, as it is based mainly not on soils but on geological characteristics of substrates.
In the same year (1886), V.V. Dokuchaev proposed the Ýrst genetic classiÝcation of soils
(Sibirtsev, 1966). The main scheme is as follows:
I.
Normal
A. Terrestrial-vegetal:
1. Light gray northern
2. Gray forest
3. Chernozem
4. Chestnut
5. Brown solonetsous
(Each of these Ýve types is subdivided as follows: sandy, sandy-loamy, light loamy, medium
loamy, heavy loamy, and clayey.)
B. Terrestrial-bog (these are soils of acid non-Þoodplain meadows and ÑchernoramensÒ)
C. Bog soils (peat bogs, tundras, and ÑplavniÒ)
