Soil of the tundra: description and description

The Tundra are vast territories with a harsh climate. What plants are able to survive in these conditions, what kind of soil covers the permafrost, as it is used in agriculture, read this article.

Description of the tundra

This zone of nature occupies a vast territory from the Kola Peninsula to the Chukchi Peninsula. Their coasts are washed by the Arctic Ocean. The climate of the tundra is characterized by low air temperature, short summer and severe winter, which lasts up to nine months a year.

Characteristics of the tundra The cold period is associated with the prevailing southern winds blowing from the mainland. In summer, unstable weather is observed with frequent and strong north winds. They bring a cold snap and heavy rainfall, the average annual number of which reaches four hundred millimeters. Snow covers the surface of the soil almost all year round, up to two hundred and seventy days.

What is the soil in the tundra? This zone is distinguished by peat-bog soils and weakly podzolic soils. A characteristic feature is the presence of swamps. Their formation is associated with permafrost, which has waterproof properties.

Tundra of Russia is a zone with a low population density. Here live indigenous peoples: the Nenets, the Chukchi, the Yakuts, the Saami and others. Their main occupation is reindeer herding. The description of the tundra is impossible without mentioning places of mining such as gold, apatites, nephelines, ores and much more. Railways do not meet the ever growing needs of the population. This is due to the permafrost, which hinders the construction of roads.

What are the tundra?

The tundra is a natural zone lying above the northern limits of forest vegetation. This is a territory with permafrost, which is never flooded with the waters of the seas and rivers. It is characterized by a large length from the north to the south, this is reflected in climatic conditions within its zone. Therefore, the following types of tundra are distinguished:

• Arctic. They are occupied by islands with the same name, covered with mosses, lichens and rarely floral plants. The latter are perennial grasses and small shrubs. Here, a willow and a dryad are common, often called partridge grass. Perennial herbs are represented by polar poppy, small sedge, some grasses and saxifrage.
• The territory of the northern tundra is the mainland coast. They differ from the Arctic in that the vegetation cover of this zone is closed. The soil of the tundra is ninety percent covered with green mosses and bushy lichens. Here the yagel grows. Flower plants are becoming more diverse. You can find a lively, saxifrage or mountaineer viviparous. From shrubby plants - cowberry, blueberry, ledum, willow, dwarf birch.

• The southern tundra of Russia, like the northern one, is characterized by a continuous vegetation cover that covers the soil with tiers. The upper row is dominated by willow and dwarf birch, on average - shrubs and grasses, and in the lower dominance belongs to lichens and mosses.

How do plants survive in harsh conditions?

The climate of the tundra forced many plants to acquire so-called adaptations. For example, plants in which shoots are spreading or crawling on the surface of the soil, and the leaves are collected in a rosette, use ground layers of air. To low-grown representatives of the flora helps to survive the snow cover.

In summer, plants struggle to preserve moisture, reducing leaves in size. Thus, the evaporating surface is reduced, which contributes to the retention of the liquid. For example, the dryad and the polar willow have their own devices, thanks to which they survive. On the underside of plants there is a dense pubescence, which prevents the movement of air. This helps to reduce evaporation. In the tundra, for the most part, perennial plants grow. Some of them are viviparous, that is, fruits and seeds are replaced by bulbs and tubers. Such plants quickly take root. This allows you to gain valuable time.

When the tundra is beautiful?

This is observed twice a year. The first time the tundra is beautiful in August. During the ripening of cloudberry, the tundra changes green to red, and then, when the berry ripens, into bright yellow. Moroshka is the closest relative of raspberry and refers to perennial herbaceous plants. Her stems are not covered with spines, and the flowers are much larger. It is interesting that immature fruits are red, and mature fruits are orange. Residents of the tundra appreciate cloudberries. From her berries they cook jam. Fruits are consumed in wet and parvenous form.

The second time the beauty of the tundra is pronounced in September, because this month is called the golden autumn. The leaves of the trees become yellow, from which everything glitters around. This time is loved by mushroom pickers. The soil of the tundra at this time is so favorable that here grow mushrooms that reach the height of local trees. It is noteworthy that they are not at all wormy.

Gley soils

According to their mechanical composition, they refer to heavy soils: loamy and clayey. The place of occurrence is the glacial glacial plains. Long-term frost thaws to a depth of fifty-one hundred and fifty centimeters. Tundra gley soils are completely leached, that is, they do not contain readily soluble salts and carbonates.

But they are rich in weathering products and humus, whose content in the upper horizon is ten percent. Peaty as well as humus soil of the tundra contain forty percent of humus. Different subzones have an unequal reaction of soils. In one locality it is acidic, in another - weakly acidic, and in the third - neutral.

Morphological structure of the soil

• The top layer is a kind of litter of half-decomposed mosses and lichens. Its power is three to five centimeters.
• Horizon, consisting of coarse humus or humus up to twelve centimeters. This is a moist loam dark brown or dark gray with densely intertwined roots. Such soil Has an uneven boundary and a clear transition.
• Horizon, whose thickness is eight to twelve centimeters. It is called illuvial. It is colored unevenly, the background is brown with rusty and pale-gray spots. It is a loamy horizon with numerous roots.
• The horizon is gley. Its power is twenty-twenty-five centimeters. What is the soil in the tundra? It has a brown color with blurry spots of a gray color. Sometimes rusty spots are visible on the general background. It is a loamy horizon, in rare cases - thixotropic horizon. It differs by humidity and a small number of roots.
• The horizon is illuvial. Its power is twelve to fifteen centimeters. Painted unevenly, brown background. There are dark-blue and rusty spots. The horizon is loamy, rather moist, with a small amount of roots. Below is a view of the permafrost. Often it is thixotropic.
• Gleyey loamy horizon of dark-blue color. It contains many veins of ice.

What is the phenomenon of thixotropy?

This is a state where the heavily moistened soils, when mechanically affected, can change their state from viscous-ductile to frosty mass. After a while, the soil returns to its original state. And the humidity does not decrease. Continental tundra is rarely subject to the phenomenon of thixotropy, which decreases in the subzones from north to south. This also applies to gleying of soils.

Use of tundra soils in agriculture

The main industry in the arctic tundra is reindeer herding. Very slowly, but agriculture is also moving forward. In some areas, potatoes, cabbage, radish, carrots, trout and other vegetables were grown. Some experimental crops are grown at experimental stations and state farms.

Mastering new land, take into account the unfavorable factors that are inherent in the soils of the tundra. Therefore, the main tasks of cultivating the soil are their dehumidification, activation of biological processes, improvement of aeration, elimination of the damaging effect of permafrost and much more. So that the soil is suitable for agricultural use, it is fertilized with manure, peat, organic and mineral fertilizers. The soil of the tundra, under the influence of acculturation, changes. The best indicator is a decrease in the level of permafrost. Its effect on plant growth is significantly reduced.