Pedogenic Zonation in the Well-Drained Soils of the Arctic Regions

• Published in: Quaternary Research
• Main Author: Ugolini, Fiorenzo C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1986
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland; Svalbard; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0033-5894(86)90086-4; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589486900864?httpAccept=text/xml; http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:0033589486900864?httpAccept=text/plain; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0033589400023231

Pedogenic zonation in the soils of the polar regions is a result of gradients in environmental factors and attendant chemical processes. Along a latitudinal transect, it is best manifested at well-drained sites and by soils developed on predominantly silicate rocks. Selected sites in arctic Alaska, in the Canadian arctic, Greenland, and Svalbard adequately fulfill these prerequisites. The processes of podzolization, decarbonization-carbonization, pervection, and salinization as models of arctic pedogenesis demonstrate that processes occurring in the temperate region also operate in the Far North. Brunification, melanization, and oxidation are recognized for the first time as current geochemical and pedogenic mechanisms of the Arctic region. Traditional genetic soil names have been retained because they represent a closer relationship to pedogenic processes than the more modern nomenclature. The identification, the chemical behavior, the strength, abundance, and mobility of the proton donors and conjugate bases are keys to the genesis of soils and the distinction of contrasting soil processes. This new approach to the understanding of arctic pedogenesis can be better fulfilled by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting soil solution obtained in situ .