Abstract
Soil-archeological studies of agricultural terraces with retaining walls in the area of construction of the Gotsatlinskaya Hydroelectric Power Station in Khunzakh district of the Republic of Dagestan have been performed. The morphogenetic and chemical properties of the anthropogenic soils (Anthrosols) in different parts of the terrace complex are analyzed. It is argued that slope terracing in the mountains ensures the development of thicker soil profiles with pronounced genetic horizons. The soils of agricultural terraces store important information of the paleoenvironmental history and land use. A characteristic feature of the Anthrosols of agricultural terraces is a relatively even distribution of gravelly material of up to 5 cm in diameter in the plow layer. The soils of terraces are characterized by the high variability in their properties within the entire terrace complex and within the particular terraces.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M. A. Agalarov, “Dagestan as one of the centers of global terrace agriculture,” Vestn. Dagest. Nauch. Tsentra, No. 28, 1–6 (2007).
Agroclimatic Resources of Dagestan ASSR (Gidrometeoizdat, Leningrad, 1975) [in Russian].
Kh. A. Amirkhanov, “Beginning of agriculture in Dagestan,” Priroda (Moscow), No. 2, 52–57 (1983).
E. V. Arinushkina, Manual for the Chemical Analysis of Soils (Moscow State Univ., Moscow, 1970) [in Russian].
M. A. Balamirzoev, E. M.-R. Mirzoev, A. M. Adzhiev, and K. G. Mufaradzhev, Soils of Dagestan: Ecological Aspects of Rational Use (Dagest. Knizhn. Izd., Makhachkala, 2008) [in Russian].
A. V. Borisov and D. S. Korobov, Ancient and Medieval Agriculture in Kislovodsk Depression: The Results of Soil-Archeological Studies (Taus, Moscow, 2013) [in Russian].
G. I. Bushinskii, “Titanium in sedimentogenesis,” Litol. Polezn. Iskop., No. 2, 7–14 (1963).
M. I. Gerasimova, M. N. Stroganova, N. V. Mozharova, and T. V. Prokof’eva, Anthropogenic Soils: Genesis, Geography, and Reclamation (Oikumena, Smolensk, 2003) [in Russian].
N. I. Vavilov, “The world experience in agricultural development of high-mountain regions,” Priroda (Moscow), No. 2, 74–84 (1936).
A. S. Vladychenskii, Specificity of Mountainous Pedogenesis (Nauka, Moscow, 1998) [in Russian].
Z. G. Zalibekov, Soils of Dagestan (Dagestan State Univ., Makhachkala, 2010) [in Russian].
P. I. Kalinin, A. O. Alekseev, and A. D. Savko, Loesses, Paleosols, and Paleogeography of the Quaternary Period in the Southeast of the Russian Plain, Tr. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Geol., Voronezh. Gos. Univ. (Voronezh State Univ., Voronezh, 2009), No.58.
N. S. Kasimov, Geochemistry of Steppe and Semidesert Landscapes (Moscow State Univ., Moscow, 1988) [in Russian].
Classification and Diagnostics of Soils of Dagestan (Dagestan Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Makhachkala, 1982) [in Russian].
N. O. Kovaleva and P. A. Sergeeva, “Evolution of soils of mountainous Dagestan in the Holocene,” Dokl. Ekol. Pochvoved. 1 (15), 1–19 (2001).
V. A. Kovda, Basics of Soil Science (Nauka, Moscow, 1973) [in Russian].
B. G. Rozanov, Soil Cover of the World (Moscow State Univ., Moscow, 1977) [in Russian].
E. V. Tulysheva, “Geomorphic position and prospects of use of the anthropogenic terraces in the mountains of Dagestan,” Vestn. Dagest. Nauch. Tsentra, No. 29, 28–31 (2007).
O. Ackermann, T. Svoray, and M. Haiman, “Nari (calcrete) outcrop contribution to ancient agricultural terraces in the Southern Shephelah, Israel: insights from digital terrain analysis and a geoarchaeological field survey,” J. Archaeol. Sci. 35, 930–941 (2008).
C. Garcia, T. Hernandez, J. Albaladejo, V. Castillo, and A. Roldan, “Revegetation in semiarid zones: influence of terracing and organic refuse on microbial activity,” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 62, 670–676 (1998).
J. T. Hutton, “Titanium and zirconium minerals,” in Minerals in Soil Environments, Ed. by J. B. Dixon and S. B. Weed (Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, 1977), pp. 673–688.
G. J. Retallack, “Soils and global change in the carbon cycle over geological time,” in Treatise on Geochemistry (Elsevier, Amsterdam, 2003), pp. 581–605.
G. J. Retallack, Soil of the Past: An Introduction to Paleopedology (Blackwell, Oxford, 2001).
J. Sandor, J. Hawley, R. Schiowitz, and P. Gersper, “Soil-geomorphic setting and change in prehistoric agricultural terraces in the Mimbres area, New Mexico,” Proceedings of the Geological Society 59th Annual Fall Field Conf. “Geology of the Gila Wilderness-Silver City Area,” Abstracts of Papers (New Mexico, 2008), pp. 167–175.
A. Shimpei, “Agricultural technologies of terraced rise cultivation in the Ailao Mountains, Yunnan, China,” Asian Afr. Area Stud. 6, 173–196 (2007).
J. E. Spenser and G. A. Hale, “The origin, nature, and distribution of agricultural terracing,” Pac. Viewpoint 1, 1–39 (1965).
S. Stanchia, M. Freppaza, A. Agnellib, T. Reinschc, and E. Zaninia, “Properties, best management practices and conservation of terraced soils in Southern Europe (from Mediterranean areas to the Alps): a review,” Quat. Int. 265, 90–100 (2012).
I. Turova, V. Bronnikova, and O. Chichagova, “Slope terracing as an example of Early Medieval landscape exploitation and transformation in piedmonts of the North Caucasus,” Proceedings of the 1st International Conf. on Soils and Archaeology (Szazhalombatta, 2001), pp. 95–98.
T. J. Wilkinson, “The definition of ancient manured zones by means of extensive shred-sampling techniques,” J. Field Archaeol. 9, 323–333 (1982).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © A.V. Borisov, D.S. Korobov, I.A. Idrisov, P.I. Kalinin, 2018, published in Pochvovedenie, 2018, No. 1, pp. 26–36.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Borisov, A.V., Korobov, D.S., Idrisov, I.A. et al. Soils of Agricultural Terraces with Retaining Walls in the Mountains of Dagestan. Eurasian Soil Sc. 51, 22–31 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229318010040
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229318010040