Alina Dmitrievna Utkina

Magnetic susceptibility methods are widely used as effective and sensitive express methods for establishing genesis, evolution of soils, and their diagnostics. At the same time, there is absolutely no information on the magnetic properties of soils in the Southern Cis-Baikal region. The paper considers the magnetic susceptibility of gray metamorphic soil and clay-illuvial chernozem (on hummocks) located in the conditions of paleocryogenic hummocky-depression complex with gray- and dark-humus stratozems (in depressions). It is established that the values of specific magnetic susceptibility confirm the weak textural differentiation of the gray metamorphic soil profile associated with the attenuation of the podzolic process. Low values of magnetic susceptibility in clay-illuvial chernozem and their sharp drop with depth are caused, primarily by a decrease in humus content, a decrease in the acidity level and an increase in the amount of carbonates in the parent rock. Under conditions of paleocryogenic microrelief, magnetic susceptibility was noticeably higher in the buried humus horizon of the forest landscape depression soil compared to the modern horizon, which indicates a clear change in soil formation conditions and processes. On the contrary, no such changes were found in dark humus stratozem: magnetic susceptibility values showed the same values in the modern and buried humus horizons. The dependences of this indicator on such soil properties as specific electrical resistance, soil acidity, humus and exchangeable cation content, carbonates, silt and physical clay, total iron, as well as soil age were revealed.