Geographical patterns of soil distribution within the watersheds of Baikal (as applied to the map "The soils of Baikal basin")

1:2,500,000 scale soil map of the Lake Baikal basin, created by the efforts of scientists from Russia and Mongolia, reflects general geographical patterns of soil distribution. The catchment area stretching for 1300 km along the meridian, and the mountain relief cause a peculiar latitudinal and altitudinal zoning of soils. In the highlands alfa-humus soils are replaced by cryosols from north to south. In intermountain depressions with a lack of moisture, sod-gray soils are interchanged by kastanozems and cryoarid soils. The geography of chernozems, sod-podburs and organo-accumulative soils is determined mainly by altitudinal zonation and exposure. They form breaking up areas in the lower slope parts and foots of mountains throughout the basin. In the adjacent to Lake Baikal part under its influence soils of warmer and humid climatic conditions, such as burozems, are formed along with the podburs. The lake water area, the phenomenon of inversion, migration and interference, altitudinal zonality and exposure of slopes have a great influence on the degree of soil heterogeneity. The mountain and hollow terrain, abrupt changes of climatic parameters, weathering crusts, and vegetation cover along with landscape evolution cause a high degree of heterogeneity in the soil cover, represented by 46 combinations (26 mountain-type and 20 plain-type), consisting of 76 soils, belonging to 17 divisions.