Soil microstructure and factors of its formation

The microstructural stability of soils of different geneses (steppe soils, tropical soils, and subtropical soils) developed from marine clay, loess, and weathering crusts was studied by the method of successive treatments with chemical reagents destroying the particular clay-aggregating components. The following dispersing agents were used: (1) H2O (pH 5.5), (2) 0.1 N NaCl (pH 6), (3) 0.002% Na2CO3 (pH 8.7), (4) 0.1 N NaOH (pH 11.5), (5) the Tamm reagent (pH 3.2), and (6) 0.1 N NaOH (pH 11.5). The properties of the clay subfractions obtained in the course of these treatments were studied by a set of analytical methods, including X-ray diffractometry, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements. It was shown that soil microaggregates are formed under the impact of a number of physicochemical processes; the content and properties of inorganic components (clay minerals in soils with a high CEC and iron oxides in soils with a low CEC) are the controlling factors. The structure of the parent materials is transformed to different degrees to form the soil structure. For example, autonomous nondifferentiated soils inherit, to some extent, the specific microorganization of the parent material. At the same time, the redistribution of substances in the soil profile and in the landscape may exert a substantial influence on the soil structure and microstructure. This is particularly true for autonomous differentiated soils, turbated soils, accumulative soils, polylithogenic soils, and polygenetic soils. The properties of the obtained subfractions of the clay (the mineralogical composition, the Fe2+/(Fe2++ Fe3+) ratio, the magnetic susceptibility, and the Cha/Cfa ratio) attest to the spatial heterogeneity of the composition and properties of the mineral and organic aggregated compounds in soils.