Geografie 2020, 125, 473-500
From Chernozem to Luvisol or from Luvisol to Chernozem? A discussion about the relationships and limits of the two types of soils. A case study of the soil catena of Hrušov, Czechia
, Anne Gebhardt2,3, Damien Ertlen3, Luděk Šefrna4, Kristýna Flašarová4, Petr Kolařík4, Dominique Schwartz3
1Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, v. v. i., Prague, Czechia
2Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives Grand Est Nord, Ludres, France
3University of Strasbourg, Faculté de Géographie et d’Aménagement, Laboratoire Image, Strasbourg, France
4Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology, Prague, Czechia
Received February 2020
Accepted July 2020
The patchy character of the distribution of Chernozems and Luvisols formed on loess is often observable on the pedological maps, on a large scale, in Czechia. The focus of the paper is to examine the features of the soil catena of Hrušov (Czechia), which is characterized by the simultaneous presence of Chernozem, Luvisol and Luvic Chernozem – without obvious environmental reasons. A catena of only 330 meters is considered a system of transformation between these soils. Along with field work and the pedological analysis, we used the soil micromorphology method to understand the processes of pedogenesis. We concluded that the presence of considerably different soil types on a small scale is due to intensive agriculture. We found that the present Chernozem is formed on the Luvisol by retrograde soil evolution, which included a shift in the vegetation, erosion, and recarbonation. The evolution of Luvisol in the lower part of the catena has been considerably modified.
Keywords
soil catena, chernozem, luvisol, soil micromorphology, Czechia.
