Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and natural resources 2018 number 2

A study is made of the coastal zones of the recreation areas of Eastern Cisbaikalia: the Lemasovo locality, the villages of Bol’shaya Rechka and Sukhaya. The findings permitted diagnostics of soils represented by four genetic types: Haplic Fluvisols, Histic Fluvisols, Eutric Fluvisols and Al-Fe-humus soils and their morphological structure is described. Presented are the results of a micromorphological analysis and from studying the main indicators of the physicochemical properties of soils experiencing recreational impacts which include acidity, exchange cations of calcium and magnesium, humus and particle-size distribution. It is established that changes in the particle-size distribution are manifested by the reorganization of content of fractions as a result of mechanical action: input, wash and mixing of material. It is determined that the number of fractions of fine and medium sand in alluvial soils increases, and the number of fractions of dust and silt decreases. Structural changes in Al-Fe-humus soils are revealed, which arise due to their sandy-loamy composition and an increased concentration of organic matter. The detected microforms of organic matter are characterized by inclusions of large partially decomposed and numerous carbonated plant residues. It is pointed out that the recreation-caused changes do not affect deep horizons. It is established that humus content, particle-size distribution, microstructure of the soil mass and organic material are most representative for the diagnosis of recreation-caused soil transformation, and the chemical indices are less informative. The identified feature of the soils studied signals their vulnerability associated with the formation of soils on sandy sediments, and with short-profile and low-power organogenic horizons.