Boreal Soils on Hard Gypsum Rocks:
Morphology, Properties, and Genesis
S. V. Goryachkin1, I. A. Spiridonova1, S. N. Sedov2, and V. O. Targulian1
1 Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Staromonetnyi per. 29, Moscow, 119017 Russia
2 Faculty of Soil Science, Moscow State University, Vorob’evy gory, Moscow, 119899 Russia
Received August 6, 2002
Abstract—The genesis of soils developed from hard gypsum rocks in the northern taiga of European Russia is
considered. These soils are formed by the following processes: surface accumulation of a low-ash litter and raw
humus, humus formation from roots and fungal hyphae, local migration of humus compounds, physical disin-
tegration, dissolution, leaching, and local accumulation of gypsum in the form of coatings. Pedogenesis on hard
gypsum is a model of a bio-abiotic exogenous process that does not form stable mineral products. The existence
of the soil profile is possible provided that the rates of physical disintegration of hard gypsum rocks and forma-
tion of loose gypsum fine earth are higher than the gypsum dissolution rate. The synthesis of calcium carbonates
in the soil profile that is often mentioned in literature is not observed: calcite in calcareous varieties of gypsum-
bearing soils is inherited from the parent rock.
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