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This paper presents an investigation of previously unstudied soils of the Arctic islands (Krestovsky and Chetyryokhstolbovoy), which gained the status of a new protected area “Bear Islands” (70°37′–70°60′ N, 160°23′–162°33′ E). Their soils were formed mainly under permafrost conditions (approximately 1 m), with a seasonal thawing depth of 0.3–0.6 cm. The territory of Krestovsky Island is a combination of several landscapes characterized by various types of permafrost soils. Primitive gravelly soils (A–BC(C)) are exposed in mountainous areas. Permafrost tundra low-gley soils (OT–Bg–BCg(C)) are formed on the gentle long slopes under hummocky moss-herbaceous tundra. In natural depressions on cryogenic forms of surface, the soil cover represents a combination of permafrost arctotundra gleyic (O–B–Bg(BC)┴) and humus-gley soils (O–AH–AB–BG┴). Marsh soils (Ad–C(AC)–C′) occur along the low flooded gently sloping coasts of the island. All soils are acidic. Zonal types are characterized by gleying, which brings them closer to the soils of the mainland. The soil cover of Chetyryokhstolbovoy Island, with the most fully developed shrublichen-moss or forb-moss soils, is rather monotonous. Namely it is represented by arctotundra gleyic soils with a profile of the same type in terms of morphological features and physicochemical properties (О–Аd–АВ(g)–Вg(BCg)). The main features of this soil type include the thinness of the surface organogenic horizon, good decomposition of organic matter, high and medium content of humus in the soddy-humus horizon, the absence of surface gleying or its weak severity due to drying out in summer.

Abstract— Data on major properties and clay mineralogy in the profiles of slightly differentiated Cryosols forming in cold ultracontinental climate of Yakutia are discussed. The particular objects are represented by the cryozems of tundra, forest-tundra, and northern taiga of the Anabar and Alazeya plateaus and by the palevaya (pale) soil of middle taiga in Central Yakutia. The differentiation of clay minerals in the vertical soil profiles is poorly pronounced because of the strong homogenizing impact of cryoturbation processes. The profile of pale soil displays minor differences in clay mineralogy despite the strong difference in acid–base conditions of the upper and lower horizons. However, the obtained data suggest that mineral weathering in pale soils of Central Yakutia is more advanced than it was concluded in the 1970s on the basis of data on the absence of pronounced trends in the vertical distribution of clay minerals in their profiles. This is in good agreement with the presence of a sufficiently thick upper humus horizon in these soils, which is typical of the soils of more humid regions. It is suggested that pale soils of Central Yakutia should be classified as soddy pale soils.

For the first time, a detailed diagnostics and classification of soils of the Suntar-Khayata Range have been performed. This study is a continuation of long-term soil research in the Verkhoyansk mountainous soil province. The morphogenetic properties of soils in different altitudinal zones of the Suntar-Khayata Range are described, and the position of these soils in the new Russian soil classification system is determined. The Suntar-Khayata Range (63° N; 139° E) is found near the Pole of Cold of the northern hemisphere and is characterized by the distinct altitudinal zonation. In the study area, parent materials are represented by sandstone and, less often, by siltstone. In the warm season, the upper boundary of permafrost can be clearly traced only in the profiles of low-stony soils on the floodplains. The vertical zonality in the studied area includes the following zones: the valley zone ( 1500 m a.s.l.) with a predominance of lithozems (Leptosols). All the soils are relatively shallow, stony, and coarse-textured; their organic horizons are thin, and raw-humus (AO) horizons tend to predominate. Gley features are absent in the soil profiles. The soils have an acid or a slightly acid reaction, low base saturation (except for alluvial soils), and signs of organic matter illuviation. The results of this study can be used to expand the database on soils of poorly studied cold continental mountain regions of Eurasia.

The vertical zonality of the soil cover of the Verkhoyansk mountainous soil province is discussed. The soils of the landscape-ecological profile in the area of the Arkachan Plateau (65° N, 130° E) have been studied. Their morphogenetic characteristics and position in the new Russian soil classification system are analyzed. The absolute height of the mountains reaches 1200 m, the relative height ranges from 400 to 500 m. The plateau is composed of sandstone, siltstone, and shale of the Mesozoic age. The climate is cold and sharply continental. Permafrost has a continuous character. However, in the profile of mountainous soils, permafrost is often absent, as its upper table lies below the stony soil profile. In the vertical zonality of the Arkachan Plateau, mountainous tundra zone (>1100 m a.s.l.) and mountainous taiga zone (

The soils in the area of the northern pole of cold located on the interfluve between the Yana and Adycha rivers within the spurs of Kisilyakh Ridge included in the mountain system of Cherskii Ridge have been studied for the first time. The profile-genetic approach has been applied to describe the soils and determine their classification position. It is found that the major soil types in this region are the soils of the postlithogenic trunk belonging to the orders of lithozems (Cryic Leptosols), gley soils (Gleyic Skeletic Cryosols), and Al–Fe-humus soils (Spodic Skeletic Cryosols). The ecological ranges of altitudinal zones— the taiga zone with various types of lithozems below 630–700 m a.s.l. and the tundra zone with combinations of gley and nongley cryogenic soils above these heights—have been established. The development of gley or nongley soils is specified by the local orogenic and lithological conditions and slope aspect, which, in turn, control the degree of drainage and the presence and character of permafrost. In the profile of mountainous gley soils (gleyzems) with shallow ice-rich permafrost, cryogenic processes and features typical of the analogues of these soils on plains—cryogenic cracking, cryoturbation, solifluction, thixotropy, oxiaquic features above permafrost, saturation of the soil profile with mobile humus, etc.—are typical.

Permafrost-affected palevye (pale) soils of Central Yakutia are developed from mantle calcareous deposits of different textures and are characterized by the common mica-chloritic association of clay minerals with a higher content of chlorite in comparison with the soils developed from mantle loams and loess-like loams in the European part of Russia. In the pale soils, the distribution of clay minerals in the profile has an even pattern in the loamy variants and a differentiated pattern typical of podzols in the loamy sandy variants. Data on the chemical extracts and Mossbauer spectroscopy indicate that the iron in the pale soils is mainly fixed in silicate minerals. The content of nonsilicate iron represented by the amorphous and weakly crystallized compounds in the pale soils is relatively low. The humus-accumulative horizon in these soils is close to the gray-humus (soddy) AY horizon according to its acid-base characteristics (the soil pH and the degree of base saturation) despite the presence of exchangeable sodium and the shallow occurrence of the calcareous horizon.

This paper considers the informative importance of one of the main features that characterize humic acids of soils at the diagnosis of the natural environment of their formation in both the present and the past. It is shown that the ratio of elements in the humic acids clearly corresponds to the landscape conditions and quantitative characteristics of climatic parameters. They persist over time and can serve as one of the reliable indicators in assessing the environment of different periods of paleogeographic history. © 2012 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.