Chernozem

Black Earth in Russia

The Chernozem (Russian: чернозём, transliterated as chernozëm or chernoziom, Ukrainian: Чорнозем, chornozem, 'black earth') is a type of black soil rich in humus (from 3 to 13%), in addition to being rich in potassium, phosphorus and microelements. It is one of the most fertile for agriculture. It has a very thick humus-rich A horizon, which can be up to 1 meter or more.

Chernozem is a group of reference soils in the international soil classification system World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB).

Global distribution Chernozem (in red).

The typical climate consists of a wet spring, a summer that becomes very dry, and a harsh winter with frost and snow. During the dry summer many plants die. Animals such as earthworms and mammals carry dead organic matter into the mineral soil. As the soil passes through the intestine of the worms, stable organo-mineral aggregates and associations are formed. It is very difficult for bacteria to break down this stabilized organic matter. For this reason, an A horizon rich in humus and very thick is formed. In the WRB this A horizon is the diagnostic horizon of Chernozem and is called chernic horizon.

In the prairies many fires occur and a lot of vegetal carbon is formed that contributes to the stability of the organic matter and the blackish color of the chernic horizon.

There are two belts or corridors of chernozëm around the world: one that runs from northeastern Ukraine, passes through the “Central Black Earth Region”of Russia, which includes the provinces or oblasti of Belgorod, Kursk, Lipetsk, Oryol or Orël, Tambov and Voronezh) and, continuing through the south of that country (and through the north of Kazakhstan), reaches to project residually to the south of Siberia. The other covers part of the Canadian prairie, in the region also known as ALSAMA or AlSaMa.

Likewise, chernozëm type soil is found in some semi-arid regions with cold to temperate climates such as Poland (although in only 1% of its territory), the center and central valley of Mexico, some areas of the Great Plains or Plains of the United States (between the states of Montana and Texas), as well as in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang (Heilungkiang), in the vicinity of the city of Harbin.

External links

• Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category Chernozem.
• AS Level Geography: Chernozem.