Diagnostic criteria for lessivage of profile-differentiated soils of the Precarpathian region (Ukraine)

Profile-differentiated soils of the Precarpathian region were formed due to the combined effect of such processes as podzolization, lessivage, gley-eluvium. For the diagnosis of these soils, researchers have used different diagnostic features. The most controversial is the diagnosis of the lessivage process. Based on our own field and analytical studies, it is suggested to use the granulometric composition compared to the contents of the horizon and the silt content in argillanes for the diagnosis of lessivage argillanes within the illuvial horizon. A reliable feature of lessivage is the equal distribution of the montmorillonite group minerals within the profile, which is diagnosed by the ratio of SiO₂:Al₂O₃ in the silty fraction, the accumulation of Fe₂O₃ and R₂O₃ in the illuvial horizon in comparison with the rock and positive values of eluvial-accumulative coefficient of oxides in the silty fraction in the illuvial part of the soil profile.