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A Review of Pedogenic Zonation in Well-Drained Soils of the Southern Circumpolar Region

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

James G. Bockheim  and
Fiorenzo C. Ugolini
James G. Bockheim
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
Fiorenzo C. Ugolini
Affiliation:
College of Forest Resources, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
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Abstract

The concept of zonality is used to link well-drained mineral soils and processes along a bioclimatic gradient extending from ca. 48° to 87° S, including southernmost Chile, the subantarctic islands, and maritime and continental Antarctica. The following environmental factors decline along this gradient: mean annual temperature and precipitation and the type and number of plant species. Six pedological zones (along with representative soils) are identified along the gradient: (1) Subantarctic Forest Zone (Podzol?), (2) Subantarctic Low Tundra zone, (3) Subantarctic High Tundra Zone (Subantarctic Brown soil, without permafrost), (4) Antarctic Sub-Polar Desert Zone (Subantarctic Brown soil, with permafrost), (5) Antarctic Polar Desert Zone (Red Ahumisol), and (6) Cold Desert Zone (Ahumisol). Zonal mineral soils in the Subantarctic Forest and Low Tundra Zones are rare, because large amounts of precipitation (≥2500 mm) and cool summers have led to thick accumulation of peat. Whereas the processes of rubification, melanization, and peat accumulation decline in relative magnitude southward, the processes of salinization and desert pavement formation increase in relative importance along this bioclimatic gradient. Carbonation and pervection (silt and clay migration) are maximized in the Subantarctic Tundra and Antarctic Polar Desert Zones. Because of the limited amount of land between 40° and 65° S and the presence of the Antarctic Convergence, comparable pedogenic zones occur at lower latitudes in the Southern than in the Northern Circumpolar Region.

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Articles
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Quaternary Research , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , July 1990 , pp. 47 - 66
Copyright
University of Washington

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