Morphological Features of Soils in the Low-Mountain Relief of the Southeastern Crimea (The Area of Karadag Nature Reserve)

Low-mountainous landscapes’ soils of the southeastern part of the Crimean Peninsula were studied on the territory of Karadag Nature Reserve. The reserve includes the Besh-Tash Ridge, on whose slopes the research was conducted in 2019–2020. For mountain soils of the studied territory by the rate of moisture, there are different conditions of formation: automorphic, trans-accumulative, and accumulative. The study aims to investigate the morphological and physicochemical properties and the granulometric composition of soils in the Karadag Nature Reserve. Soils of the studied territory were formed on different lithological differences of mother rock eluvium, which are strongly differentiated by mineralogical composition, degree of disturbance, and particle size distribution. On the test sites, there is a change of vegetation cover of elementary landscapes. Six soil cuts are studied. As a result of field and laboratory studies, it was established that in the investigated territory, the soil cover consists of brown soils (Cambisols Chromic (CMcr)), brown mountain forest soil (Calcisols Haplic (CLha)), and mountain meadow-steppe chernozemic soil (Leptosols Mollic (LPmo)). Soil cuts are represented by different numbers of genetic horizons. In terms of particle size distribution, soils are light and medium loamy. Down in the relief, the thickness of the soil profile increases. Based on soil texture, all soils have skeletal structures. Acidity changes from neutral to slightly alkaline. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.