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Geography of Extreme Soils and Soil-Like Systems

  • Thematic Issue on Problems  of Geography
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Abstract

Extreme environmental conditions in high mountains, on the surface of glaciers, in deserts, and in the Arctic and Antarctica, as well as those associated with shallow waters, toxic or nutrient-poor substrates, intense anthropogenic impacts, a specific atmosphere or its absence in extraterrestrial systems, lead to the formation of soils and soil-like systems (soloids) that do not correspond to the traditional canons of modern soil science and soil geography. A new scientific direction is proposed—the geography and genesis of soils of extreme conditions with its own theory, conceptual apparatus, and methodological basis. The total area occupied by extreme soils and soloids is estimated at ~20% of the Earth’s soil cover.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project nos. 14-27-00133 (conceptual generalization) and 20-17-00212 (supraglacial extremeness class of soils and soloids and improvement of the concept).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    S. V. Goryachkin

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  1. S. V. Goryachkin
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Correspondence to S. V. Goryachkin.

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Translated by M. Batrukova

Sergei Viktorovich Goryachkin, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, is Head of a Department of the Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences.

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Goryachkin, S.V. Geography of Extreme Soils and Soil-Like Systems. Her. Russ. Acad. Sci. 92, 335–341 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1019331622030091

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1019331622030091

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