Extreme Pedology: Elements of Theory and Methodological Approaches

Extreme environmental conditions that occur in Arctic, Antarctic, high mountains, extremely arid regions, as well as in toxic or nutrient-poor substrates, shallow waters, under intense anthropogenic impact, and in specific atmosphere or its absence in extraterrestrial systems, lead to the formation of soils and soloids (soil-like bodies) that cannot be adequately described, and their genesis and geography cannot be satisfactorily explained within the framework of the traditional Dokuchaev’s pedology. A new scientific direction is proposed—extreme pedology (genesis and geography of soils in extreme environments), which requires its own theory, conceptual apparatus, and methodological basis. It is based on the assumption that soils and soloids can develop in extreme conditions under the deficit or surplus of resources. In the first case, soloids are just few millimeters thick; in the second case, they have the profiles of multimeter scale. Various classes of soils and soloids extremeness are specified: factorial, regime-functional, and chorological (extra-areal). The behavior of extreme objects in time and the nature of their pedogenic records can have both specific and common features with normal soils. Morphological and analytical study of soils and soloids of extreme environments requires state-of-the-art methodological approaches and scientific equipment.