Suchergebnisse

The air and profile of Umbrisols in the south-western part of Svalbard are characterized by negative average annual temperatures. The duration of the period with positive temperatures at the depth of the umbric horizon (8–10 cm) is 128 days; the sum of positive temperatures is about 500 оС. The distribution of average monthly temperatures in all horizons in the profile of 0–60 cm in the annual cycle reliably correlates with air temperature.

A few soil types were studied at the south-west coast of West Spitsbergen Island during 2004–2018. The article discusses the morphological features and properties of the most common soil types in the surveyed area, including Folic Sceletic Umbrisols, Sceletic Umbrisols of the polygonal complexes, Histic Gleysols and Folic Gleysols of tussock bog, and Sceletic Dystric Regosols.

The current study shows that decomposition of plant residues in the Umbrisol of Spitsbergen proceeds quite intensively despite the high latitudinal position. The rate of decomposition depends on the type of plant. The dependence of the decomposition intensity on the altitude is less clear.