The entire territory of our country is divided into territorial units. One of them is the Krasnodar Territory. This region is unique. It is distinguished by its unique geographical location, diversity of natural landscapes, soils, climate, flora and fauna. Read about the soils of the Krasnodar Territory, their characteristics, description in this article.
General information
According to the total indicator of land in the region, they occupy 7546.6 thousand hectares. Two-thirds are occupied by plains. To the question of what soils are represented in the Krasnodar Territory, the answer will be the following - the most diverse (108 items): powerful, heavy-duty and ordinary chernozems, gray and brown forest, sod-calcareous, meadow-chernozem and others.
The most fertile black soil in our country covers the largest Azov-Kuban plain. They differ from similar soils in other territories and regions of Russia. Their humus layer has a large thickness exceeding 120 centimeters. When asked what soils prevail in the Krasnodar Territory, we can say with confidence -black soil.
Irrigated lands, which occupy 453.4 thousand hectares, deserve special attention. They are rice plantations and large sprinkler systems. Agricultural lands also include drained soils, occupying a little more than 24 thousand hectares. They are occupied by arable land and perennial plantations.
Natural Potential
The Black Sea coast in the Krasnodar Territory is the only region in the Russian Federation with a subtropical climate, occupying a small area, the infrastructure of which is quite well developed. The economic situation here leaves much to be desired. But, despite this, the main task facing the leaders of the region is to preserve the unique complex of nature. The region occupies almost 84 thousand square kilometers of territory located in the North-Western Caucasus. 5 million people live here.
Land cover
According to soil and climatic conditions, the territory of the region was divided into zones (there are five of them): Northern, Southern foothill, Western, Central and Black Sea. Krasnodar is the territory of the Central Zone, which, in addition to this city, covers such large areas of the Krasnodar Territory as Primorsko-Akhtarsky, Dinskoy, Timashevsky, Korenovsky, Kalininsky. This also includes Krasnogvardeisky, Ust-Labinsky, Kavkazsky, Bryukhovetsky, Kurganinsky, Gulkevichsky, Vyselkovsky, Novokubansky, Tbilisi regions.
Regions of the Krasnodar Territory are considered the best for the cultivation of most crops, as precipitation is evenly distributed over the months of the year. In autumn and winter, the earth receives good moisture, so that seedlings appear evenly.
Soil of the Krasnodar Territory
Description of the Central zone should begin with the characteristics of the soil, which has high fertility. Most of them are weakly leached (typical), heavy-duty chernozems with a low content of humus. A characteristic feature is that they have humus horizons of great thickness, reaching 170 centimeters. The soil is dark gray in color at a depth brightens and becomes brown. The profile at the top has a lumpy-granular structure, at the bottom - walnut. This horizon is distinguished by the appearance of carbonate segregations that resemble pseudomycelium.
The upper horizon of humus contains a little, 4-5 percent. But humus has the ability to penetrate quite deeply. A two-meter thickness of soil with an area of one hectare contains 70 tons of humus. Humus is rich in nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus. Despite this, typical chernozems need to be fertilized, since most of the elements are in a form that is difficult to access or not at all available to plants.
Chernozems of Kuban
These soils are highly fertile and make up the bulk of the country's we alth. The chernozem soils of the Kuban extend over most of the plain and foothill steppes, on the Taman Peninsula. dependingFrom the content of humus, these soils are with a low content (4%), small - 4-6%, medium - 6-9%, rather large - 9% and above. According to the thickness of the humus layer, the soils of the Kuban are distinguished: thin - its thickness is 40 centimeters, medium-thick - 40-80, powerful - 80-120, heavy-duty - 120 centimeters and more.
Kuban chernozems have the following subtypes: ordinary, leached, typical, chestnut, mountain. Most of these soils differ from chernozems, which are rich in other regions of the region. The Kuban lands have a large thickness of the humus horizon, although the humus content in them is low. The climate helps him to penetrate deeply. In humid warm conditions, meadow-steppe representatives of the flora grow abundantly, having a powerful root system penetrating deep into. In this climate, biological processes, including the humification of dead plants, are carried out almost all year round, covering loose deposits located in the soil over large areas.
Soils of highlands
They are located at an altitude of 1200 meters or more. Soil formation (Krasnodar Territory) occurs here in harsh conditions. In winter, temperatures are low, and in summer, solar radiation has a great influence. Mechanical weathering dominates, strong destructive processes occur. All this leads to the formation of a rocky landscape, where screes, the formation of steep slopes of valleys, and deep gorges are frequent. Stormy streams run along their bottom during the melting of snow, which disappearcompletely during the dry season.
Soil formation in the Krasnodar Territory in the mountains begins from the moment when vegetation settles on rocks and boulders. The fact is that the last glaciation fettered the highlands for a long time. The soil cover appeared quite recently. It has been updated many times. This is due to strong erosion. Under their influence, the soil cover was carried down. The settlement of mountain areas with vegetation depends on a number of conditions:
- The looseness of the rock and the presence of cracks on it.
- Steepness of the surface.
- Positions in relation to parts of the world.
The nature of soil formation and its appearance varies depending on the development of plants. Lichens need the least moisture, so they chose the upper part of the rocks as their place of growth, they can exist on rocky screes. There is more moisture in their lower part and deepenings of the rock, mosses develop there, which create such conditions in which demanding herbaceous plants can grow: dicotyledons and cereals. Their impact leads to the emergence of the beginnings of the soil. At first, these are very small accumulations of fine earth, later thin soils are born. They develop further. Their power is gradually increasing. Genetic horizons are forming.
Steppe soils
They occupy the flat part of the region. Their development is at different stages, a pronounced zonality is found. Soil processes are more intense in the southern and central parts of the plain. This is facilitated by a largemoisture and dense vegetation. Black earth dominates here. Taman and the eastern regions are characterized by the predominance of chestnut soils. In a small amount there are chernozems with the same name. The steppe soils of the Krasnodar Territory are characterized by the following features:
- Dark coloration brightens with depth.
- The upper horizon has a granular structure.
- Carbonate neoplasms present.
- The humus part of the profile is well dissected.
A characteristic feature of the steppe zone is the gradual transition of soils. In some places, the processes of their formation overlap.
Forest-steppe soils
Their formation in this zone took place under more difficult conditions than in the steppes. There is no consensus on how the soil cover developed here. Most scientists believe that this was influenced by the overlapping process of forest formation.
The forest-steppe soils of the Krasnodar Territory are characterized by the following features:
- Horizon "A" consists of two parts, the top has a light gray color.
- The soil of horizon "B" has a dark color, which brightens with depth.
- There is a merged horizon, the structure is lost in it, the soil becomes a monolithic block.
- The upper part of horizon "B" has brownish clusters, which, as they deepen, turn into ferruginous concretions.
Forest soils
The mountainous territories of the region are covered with continuous forests. Bottom themthe border runs along the slopes of the Caucasus from the north side at an altitude of 100 meters. As you move east, it rises into the mountains. From the southwestern side, the edges of the forest begin from the Black Sea coast. Almost all forests have been destroyed near Novorossiysk and in the regions more north of it. The territory where they grew is reserved for arable land, vineyards, orchards, pastures for livestock, hayfields. Huge spaces were occupied by grassy vegetation.
Soil formation in the Krasnodar Territory in mountain ranges continuously occurred in conditions where the dense forest was a canopy for them. The impact was provided by complete moistening due to precipitation in large quantities and forest litter. Fallen leaves, decomposing under the influence of fungi, form humic acids, among which the majority are colorless or slightly colored compounds. They give acidity to the soil solution, and with descending flows they enter the deep layers of the soil. Their impact extends to substances of mineral origin and plant remains.
