Morphological-Genetic Characterization of Soils on the Enganepe Ridge

Specific features of the soil formation in the Polar Urals related to the slope aspects, parent rocks, and vegetation are considered using the example of the Enganepe Ridge. Soils of the same type (humus-illuvial podburs and podzolized podburs) are formed under the severe climatic conditions of the mountain tundra belt irrespective of the slope aspect. The main differences in the prevalent soils are manifested in the mountain belt of sparse forests. Under the sparse larch forests on the southeast-facing slope, illuvial-humus-iron podzols predominate. On the south-facing slope under the sparse spruce forests, clay-illuviated illuvial-humus-iron podzols alternate with mucky-dark humus soddy lithozems. Burozems are formed in a few ecological niches. The richness of the parent rocks, along with the southern slope aspect and the transitional-accumulative nutrient transfer, is shown to promote the formation of sparse spruce forests under the climatic conditions of the Polar Urals. DOI: 10.1134/S1064229311050048