Manganese, iron, and phosphorus in nodules of chernozem-like soils on the northern Tambov Plain and their importance for the diagnostics of gley intensity

Nodules (nodules) forming in the chernozem-like soils of flat-bottomed closed depressions on the northern part of the Tambov Plain differ in their morphology and chemical composition as related to the degree of hydromorphism of these soils. The highest are the coefficients of Mn, P, and Fe accumulation in the nodules from these soils. The Fe to Mn ratio grows with the increasing degree of hydromorphism. Under surface moistening, the maximal amounts of mobile Mn and Fe compounds were extracted from the nodules of the most hydromorphic podzolic chernozem-like soils; under the ground moistening, their greatest amounts were extracted from the least hydromorphic soil—the weakly gley soil. In the first case, the content of organic phosphates in concretions amounted to 30–50%; in the second one, 2–3% of their total content. Under surface moistening, the proportion of active mineral phosphates becomes higher with the increasing hydromorphism: from 30 (podzolized soil) to 70% (gleyic podzolic soil). Under ground moistening, on the contrary, their proportion decreases from 70–89% in the weakly gley soil to 40–50% in the gley chernozem-like soil. The possibility to determine the degree of hydromorphism of chernozem-like soils based on the coefficients of bogging is shown. The expediency of using Schvertmann’s criterion in these studies is assessed.