Ninth International Conference on Permafrost ... - IARC Research

Ni n t h In t e r n at i o n a l Co n f e r e n c e o n Pe r m a f r o s tFigure 3. Permafrost distribution in Russia.Table 1.Natural andHumusParent rocks Horizonagricultural unitscontent, %Values from the database for the soil map on the 1:2.5 M scaleNot differentiated by natural andagricultural zones and parent rocksNorth Siberiamountain regionSouth Siberianmountain regionValues from the corrected databaseacid metamorphicand igneous rockssandstoneacid metamorphicand igneous rocksO1 21.3–73.0Bh 0.2–5.3BhC 0.2–2.1O1 60.0Bh 2.3BhC 1.5O1 50.0Bh 2.0BhC 1.5O1 50.0Bh 3.2BhC 2.0particular soil horizons: thickness, acidity, humus content,exchange capacity, etc. It is important that the soil database(Table 1), corrected for the particular provinces and parentmaterials from which a given soil is developed (withPodburs [Spodosols] as an example), gives us more adequateinformation on the values of the particular soil properties.Figure 4. Area for which the soil database is being developed.To reflect the natural variability in soil characteristics, theattribute database to the map should contain information onthe range of variation of the particular soil properties. Thus,as a first approximation, the database is developed for 205soil units in the legend. Then, it has to be refined, and theranges of variation in the particular soil properties shouldbe reduced with due account for the parent materials andbioclimatic conditions (natural zones). A digitized version ofthe “Map of the Agroclimatic Zoning of Russia” (Shahshkoet. al. 1984) is shown in Figure 2.One of the factors taken into account in the natural climaticzoning of Russia is the presence of permafrost. The map ofpermafrost distribution (Brown et al. 1997, Fig. 3) generallycorresponds to the natural climatic zoning of Russia, thoughthere are significant differences between the two maps insome regions.At present, the attribute database to the “Soil Map of theRussian Federation” is being developed in the DokuchaevSoil Science Institute; particular attention is paid to theterritory of Siberia and the Far East of the country (Fig.4). About 90% of the territory, for which this database isdeveloped, lies within the permafrost zone of Russia.The database includes information on the soil profileswithin the particular combination of major factors: “geneticsoil name + soil texture (parent material) + bioclimatic zone.”The following information is included in the description ofReferencesBrown, J., Ferrians, O.J., Jr., Heginbottom, J.A. & Melnikov,E.S. 1997. Circum-Arctic Map of Permafrost andGround-Ice Conditions. Reston, VA, USA: U.S.Geological Survey, Circum-Pacific Map Series, CP-45 (ISBN 0-607-88745-1).Fridland, V.M. (ed.) 1988. Soil Map of the Russian SovietFederative Socialistic Republic. Scale of 1:2.5 M.Moscow, Russia: Central Administration for Geodesyand Cartography (GUGK), 16 sheets (in Russian).Shashko, D.I., Gaydamaka, E.I., Kashtanov, A.N. et al. (eds.)1984. Natural and Agricultural Zoning of Lands of theU.S.S.R. Map on a Scale of 1:8 M. Moscow, Russia:Central Administration for Geodesy and Cartography(GUGK) (in Russian).260