Spatial and temporal features of soil erosion in the forest-steppe zone of the East-European Plain

The purpose of this article is to present data on the surface structure identified in the upper layer of the Mira site in the Dnieper valley. The occupation of layer I, based on a set of consistent data, constitutes the remains of a seasonal winter camp of Pleistocene horse hunters. Ten available radiocarbon dates place the calibrated age of layer I between 31,000 to 28,000 cal BP. The rapid albeit gentle overlapping of the settlement remains with alluvial sediments ensured that the original settlement and dwelling patterns and their elements survived well. Thanks to this, it is possible to reconstruct some significant aspects of the construction process, as well as details of the arrangement of the dwelling’s interior space. A 30,000-year-old, permanent skeleton cylindrical yaranga type surface construction from Mira layer I is currently representing the oldest dwelling known in the Upper Palaeolithic of Ukraine and a broader context of the steppe zone of the East European plain. Keywords: Upper Palaeolithic, surface dwelling, Eastern Europe

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Radiocarbon age of Holocene paleosols of the East European forest–steppe zone

CATENA ◽

10.1016/s0341-8162(98)00089-7 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 34 (1-2) ◽

pp. 197-207 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

A.L Alexandrovskiy ◽

O.A Chichagova

Keyword(s):

Steppe Zone ◽

Forest Steppe ◽

East European ◽

Radiocarbon Age ◽

European Forest

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Soil cover patterns in the forest-steppe and steppe zones of the East European Plain

Soil Science Annual ◽

10.2478/ssa-2019-0018 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 70 (3) ◽

pp. 198-210

Author(s):

Nikolay Khitrov ◽

Maria Smirnova ◽

Nikolai Lozbenev ◽

Ekaterina Levchenko ◽

Vasiliy Gribov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Soil Cover ◽

Parent Material ◽

Soil Mapping ◽

East European Plain ◽

Small Scale ◽

Forest Steppe ◽

East European ◽

The North ◽

Haplic Chernozems

Abstract The soil cover of the forest-steppe and steppe zones of the East European Plain is characterized by diverse soil combinations revealed during large-scale and detailed soil mapping against the background of a traditional zonal sequence of dominant automorphic soils alternating from the north to the south and clearly displayed on small-scale soil maps. The composition, configuration and functioning of particular soil cover patterns are determined by the soil forming factors acting within a given area. The elementary soil areas (detailed scale) and elementary soil cover patterns maps (large scale) of the Central Russian, Kalach, and Volga Uplands are created by both traditional and digital soil mapping methods. Low-contrasting soil combinations with the background Haplic Chernozems (Loamic or Clayic, Pachic) alternating with zooturbated Haplic Chernozems (Loamic or Clayic, Pachic) on convex elements of the microtopography and Luvic Chernozems (Loamic or Clayic, Pachic) on concave elements of the microtopography prevails under conditions of thick clay loamy parent materials and free drainage. Under conditions of shallow embedding by low-permeable clayey sediments, the soil cover includes Chernozems or Chernic Phaeozems with stagnic features in some part of the soil profile or even Mollic Stagnosols. The presence of shrink-swell clays of different ages leads to the formation of Bathyvertic Chernozems, Vertic Chernozems, Vertic Chernic Phaeozems and/or Pellic Vertisols. The presence of soluble salts in the parent material leads to the development of solonetzic soil complexes consisting of Protosodic or Sodic Chernozems and different types of Solonetzes.

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The Influence of Relief on the Density of Light-Forest Trees within the Small-Dry-Valley Network of Uplands in the Forest-Steppe Zone of Eastern Europe

Geosciences ◽

10.3390/geosciences10110420 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 420

Author(s):

Pavel Ukrainskiy ◽

Edgar Terekhin ◽

Artyom Gusarov ◽

Eugenia Zelenskaya ◽

Fedor Lisetskii

Keyword(s):

Eastern Europe ◽

Steppe Zone ◽

East European Plain ◽

Forest Steppe ◽

Tree Seedlings ◽

Dry Valleys ◽

Forest Trees ◽

Dry Valley ◽

Valley Network ◽

Light Forest

An active process of the invasion of woody vegetation, resulting in the formation of light forests, has been observed in predominantly herbaceous small dry valleys of the forest-steppe uplands of the East European Plain over the past two decades. This paper investigates the spatial features of the density of trees in such light forests and its relationship with relief parameters. The Belgorod Region, one of the administrative regions of European Russia, was chosen as a reference for the forest-steppe zone of the plain. The correlation between some relief characteristics (the height, slope, slope exposure cosine, topographic position index, morphometric protection index, terrain ruggedness index, and width and depth of small dry valleys) and the density of light-forest trees was estimated. The assessment was carried out at the local, subregional and regional levels of generalization. The relief influence on the density of trees in the small dry valley network is manifested both through the differentiation of moisture within the territory under study and the formation of various conditions for fixing tree seedlings in the soil. This influence on subregional and regional trends in the density is greater than on local trends. The results obtained are important for the management of herbaceous small-dry-valley ecosystems within the forest-steppe uplands in Eastern Europe.

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The Spread of the Neolithic in the South East European Plain: Radiocarbon Chronology, Subsistence, and Environment

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200056095 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

pp. 783-793 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Pavel M Dolukhanov ◽

Anvar Shukurov ◽

Kate Davison ◽

Graeme Sarson ◽

Natalia P Gerasimenko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

East European Plain ◽

Forest Steppe ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

East European ◽

The North ◽

Lower Volga ◽

Archaeological Materials ◽

Caspian Lowland ◽

Early Farming ◽

Radiocarbon Chronology

Newly available radiocarbon dates show the early signs of pottery-making in the North Caspian area, the Middle-Lower Volga, and the Lower Don at 8–7 kyr cal BC. Stable settlements, as indicated by “coeval subsamples,” are recognized in the Middle-Lower Volga (Yelshanian) at 6.8 kyr cal BC and the Caspian Lowland at about 6 kyr cal BC. The ages of the Strumel-Gostyatin, Surskian, and Bug-Dniesterian sites are in the range of 6.6–4.5 kyr BC, overlapping with early farming entities (Starčevo-Körös-Criş and Linear Pottery), whose influence is perceptible in archaeological materials. Likewise, the 14C-dated pollen data show that the spread of early pottery-making coincided with increased precipitation throughout the forest-steppe area.

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