Swampy soils in the Lower Dniester meadow of Moldova

Abstract

Swampy soils in the Lower Dniester floodplain are distinguished by high biogenesis at the early stage of their development. This is due to the fact that not abiotic rocks are involved in the primary soil formation, but redeposited of river basin erosion products, which are the upper, most fertile soils - grey soils, chernozems and alluvial soils. The swampy soils at the beginning of the silty stage and long before the vegetation settled on them already contain enough organic matter and all the necessary nutrients for plants. For the same reason, the development rate of most floodplain swampy-silty soils turns out to be extremely high fertility and they acquire signs of zonal soil formation relatively quickly. The phenomena of salinization and alkalinization of swampy-silty soils are confined to a later stage of their development (meadow-swampy). Usually, salinization starts from the marginal periphery of the marshes and very slowly penetrates into the inland areas of the floodplain. The riverbed edge of the marshes can remain non-saline for a very long time. Without drainage the development of swampy soils, the salinization begins immediately after its embankment and drainage. The inevitability of this process has been confirmed by the improvement practice of melioration the swampy soils in the lower reaches of Dniester floodplain.