Chernozem Explained

Chernozem
Alternative Name:Chernozemic soil
Classification System:WRB, other
Profile:AhBC
Parent Material:Loess
Code:CH
Climate:Humid continental

Chernozem (from Russian: чернозём|p=tɕɪrnɐˈzʲɵm|r=chernozyom; "black ground"),[1] [2] also called black soil, regur soil or black cotton soil, is a black-colored soil containing a high percentage of humus[3] (4% to 16%) and high percentages of phosphorus and ammonia compounds.[4] Chernozem is very fertile soil and can produce high agricultural yields with its high moisture-storage capacity. Chernozems are a Reference Soil Group of the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB)

Distribution

The name comes from the Russian terms for black and soil, earth or land (chorny + zemlya).[2] [3] The soil, rich in organic matter presenting a black color, was first identified by the Russian geologist Vasily Dokuchaev in 1883 in the tallgrass steppe or prairie of Eastern Ukraine and Western Russia.

Chernozem cover about 230 million hectares of land. There are two "chernozem belts" in the world. One is the Eurasian steppe that extends from eastern Croatia (Slavonia), along the Danube (northern Serbia, northern Bulgaria (Danubian Plain), southern and eastern Romania (Wallachian Plain and Moldavian Plain), and Moldova, to northeast Ukraine across the Central-Chernozem Strip of Central and Southern Russia into Siberia. The other stretches from the Canadian Prairies in Manitoba through the Great Plains of the United States as far south as Kansas.[5] Chernozem layer thickness may vary widely, from several centimetres up to 1.5 metres (60 inches) in Ukraine,[6] as well as the Red River Valley region in the northern United States and Canada (location of the prehistoric Lake Agassiz).

The terrain can also be found in small quantities elsewhere (for example, on 1% of Poland, Hungary, and Texas). It also exists in Northeast China, near Harbin. The only true chernozem in Australia is located around Nimmitabel, some of the richest soils on the continent.[7]

Previously, there was a black market for the soil in Ukraine. The sale of agricultural land was illegal in Ukraine from 1992 to 2020,[8] but the soil, transported by truck, could be traded legally. According to the Kharkiv-based Green Front NGO, the black market for illegally acquired chernozem in Ukraine was projected to reach approximately US$900 million per year in 2011.[9]

Canadian and United States soil classification

Chernozemic soils are a soil type in the Canadian system of soil classification and the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB).

Chernozemic soil type "equivalents", in the Canadian system, WRB, and U.S. Department of Agriculture soil taxonomy:

align=left style="border-bottom:1px solid black;" Canadianalign=left style="border-bottom:1px solid black;" WRBalign=left style="border-bottom:1px solid black;" United States
ChernozemicKastanozem, Chernozem, PhaeozemMollisol
Brown ChernozemKastanozem (Aridic)Aridic Mollisol subgroups (Xerolls and Ustolls)
Dark Brown ChernozemHaplic KastanozemTypic Mollisol subgroups
Black ChernozemChernozemUdic Mollisol subgroups
Dark Grey ChernozemGreyzemic PhaeozemBoralfic Mollisol subgroups, Albolls
Source: Pedosphere.com .

Theories of Chernozem origin:

As seen in the list above, the 19th and 20th-century discussions on the pedogenesis of Chernozem originally stemmed from climatic conditions from the early Holocene to roughly 5500 BC. However, no single paleo-climate reconstruction could accurately explain geochemical variations found in Chernozems throughout central Europe. Evidence of anthropomorphic origins of stable pyrogenic carbon in Chernozem led to improved formation theories. Vegetation burning could explain Chernozem's high magnetic susceptibility, the highest of the major soil types.[14] Soil magnetism increases when soil minerals goethite and ferrihydrite convert to maghemite on exposure to heat.[15] Temperatures sufficient to elevate maghemite on a landscape scale indicate the influence of fire. Given the rarity of such natural phenomena in the modern day, magnetic susceptibility in Chernozem likely relates to control of fire by early humans.[14]

Humification can darken soils (melanization) absent a pyrogenic carbon component. Given the symphony of pedogenic processes that contribute to the formation of dark earth, the term Chernozem summarizes different types of black soils with the same appearance but different formation histories.

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Russia Investment and Business Guide. 2007. International Business Publications. 9781433041686. 63. 11 January 2018. en.
  2. Web site: chernozem Etymology, origin and meaning of chernozem by etymonline . 5 October 2022 . www.etymonline.com . en.
  3. Web site: Chernozem . 7 July 2008. 2008 . Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
  4. News: How Chemical Pre-Treatments in Particle Size Analysis Impact Wind Erosion Modeling . 30 August 2022 . AZoM.com . 28 July 2021 . en.
  5. https://books.google.com/books?id=GTHrCAAAQBAJ&dq=kansas+Chernozem+soil&pg=PA58 Ecology of Arable Land – Perspectives and Challenges
  6. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/612921/Ukraine/30095/Soils Ukraine: Soils
  7. KG McQueen. "The Tertiary Geology And Geomorphology Of The Monaro: The Perspective In 1994" Centre For Australian Regolith Studies, Canberra 1994
  8. Web site: Ukraine lifts ban on sale of farmland in bid to receive international funds . Euronews . 31 March 2020 .
  9. https://www.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/black-market-for-rich-black-earth-116610.html Black market for rich black earth
  10. Wallerius J. G. Agriculturae fundamenta chemica, åkerbrukets chemiska grunder. Upsaliae, 1761. 8, 4, 322 p.; The natural and chemical elements of agriculture. London, York: Bell, Etherington, 1770. 198 p.
  11. 'Lomonosov M. V. § 125. // On the strata of the Earth: a translation of "O sloiakh zemnykh" (1763) / translated by S. M. Rowland, S. Korolev. Boulder: Geological Soc. of America, 2012. 41 p. (Special paper; 485) "And so, there is no doubt that black soil is not primordial matter, but that it has been produced by the decomposition of animal and plant bodies over time"
  12. Dokoutchaief B. Tchernozème (terre noire) de la Russie d'Europe. St.-Ptb.: Soc. Imp. libre économ., 1879. 66 p. (Comptes-rendus Soc. Imp. libre économ. T. 4).
  13. Dokuchaev V. V. Russian Chernozem (1883) // Israel Program for Scientific Translations Ltd. (for USDA-NSF), S. Monson, Jerusalem, 1967. (Translated from Russian into English by N. Kaner)
  14. Book: Soil Magnetism. Neli. Jordanova. 2017. Chapter 8 - The discriminating power of soil magnetism for the characterization of different soil types. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128092392000085. 349–365. 10.1016/B978-0-12-809239-2.00008-5. 978-0-12-809239-2. Academic Press. Chernozem soils exhibit similar features worldwide and are generally characterized by significant magnetic enhancement in the upper soil horizons..
  15. Mineralogy of a burned soil compared with four anomalously red Quaternary deposits in Denmark. 10.1180/0009855043910122. 2004. Nørnberg. P.. Schwertmann. U.. Stanjek. H.. Andersen. T.. Gunnlaugsson. H.P.. Clay Minerals. 39. 1. 85–98. 2004ClMin..39...85N. 129974901.