žEMėS ūKIO MOKSLAI. 2008. T. 15. Nr. 3. P. 29–35
© Lietuvos mokslų akademija, 2008
© Lietuvos mokslų akademijos leidykla, 2008
Properties of deluvial soils in Poland and Lithuania and
propositions for their classification
Ieva Baužienė
1
,
Marcin Świtoniak
2
,
Przemysław Charzyński
3
1
Department of Landscape
Geography and Cartography,
Institute of Geology and Geography,
T. Ševčenkos 11, LT-4324 Vilnius, Lithuania
E-mail: ieva.bauziene@geo.lt
2
Department of Soil Science,
Institute of Geography, Faculty of
Biology and Earth Sciences,
Nicolaus Copernicus University,
87-100 Torun, Gagarina str. 9, Poland
E-mail: swit@umk.pl
3
Department of Landscape Geography,
Institute of Geography, Faculty of
Biology and Earth Sciences,
Nicolaus Copernicus University,
87-100 Torun, Gagarina str. 9, Poland
E-mail: pecha@geo.uni.torun.pl
e term deluvial is applied to a deposit formed as a result of geodynamic processes in hilly and
undulating landscapes by natural and technogenic movement of topsoil or products of weather-
ing down the slope and its accumulation. e properties and distribution of deluvial soils are
important for agriculture history, soil erosion and water protection.
Deluvial soils are part of national soil classification systems of Poland and until 1999 of
Lithuania. In Poland, deluvial soils are one of two orders within the fiſth division – alluvial and
deluvial soils. Later (Mažvila ir kt., 2003; 2006), deluvial soils in Lithuania have been groused in
one unit with Cambisols and Fluvisols. In France and Germany, the soils on similar deposits are
distinguished as Colluvisols.
Deluvial soils are mapped, and it is necessary to distinguish them in the first level of clas-
sification and to formulate the diagnostic properties of deluvial horizon or deluvial material.
Propositions for the diagnostic properties of Colluvisols are given on the base of selected
properties of deluvial soils in Poland and Lithuania: thickness of more than 30 cm, very fine
stratification and irregular distribution of organic carbon, organic carbon content more than
0.5% (of any thicker than 30 cm part of deluvial layer) as well as location on the bottom part of
slope in hilly and undulating landscape.
Key words: erosion, deluvial soils, colluvic material, texture, organic carbon, soil clas-
sification, WRB
INTRODUCTION
e term ‘deluvial’ is applied to deposits formed as a result of
geodynamic processes in hilly and undulating landscapes by
the natural and technogenic movement of topsoil or products of
weathering down the slope and their accumulation.
e concept of deluvium and deluvial soils was used by
famous Russian scientists A. P. Pavlov, V. V. Dokuchaev (Доку-
чаев, 1950; Павлов, 1888) and others. Instead of diluvium, the
concept of colluvium is used in most European countries and in
the American soil science.
At first, the concept of deluvium (colluvium) was used for
the definition of mainly water erosion sediments, but aſter World
War II the intensification and mechanization of agriculture led
to a high acceleration of erosion. Tillage erosion on arable land
can represent up to 50% of total sediment transport (van Oost
et al., 2000).
erefore, in scientific literature of the early 20th century,
the notion ‘deluvial processes’ was used for the definition of
the processes that have formed silt-rich surface sediments in
extraglacial zones of the Pleistocene period. Recently, it has
been proposed to call these sediments as loess and loess-derived
material (Švedas, 2003). us, the definition of sediments in
the extraglacial zones of the Pleistocene period as ‘deluvial’ is an
inaccuracy.
Investigations concerning formation and characteristics of
deluvial soils are very important for understanding the human
impacts on geomorphic processes in agricultural landscapes
and the geomorphic evolution.
e common occurrence of deluvial soils is the main reason
for their distinguishing as distinct units (on different levels of
classification) in many regional soil classification systems.
Deluvial soils had been part of national soil classification
systems of Poland and Lithuania (until 1999).
In France and Germany, soils on similar deposits are distin-
guished as colluvisols (Почвенный…, 2000).
Human-modified soils in the modern Russian soil classifica-
tion are classified into a common unit with natural soils in the