The laboratory was founded in 2017 based on the “Soil Ecology” laboratory and the “Genesis and Evolution of Soils” group.

The research topic: The influence of climate change and anthropogenic activities on the evolution and current state of soils in the European part of Russia.

The principal goal is to understand the formation and evolution of soils and landscapes in the Pleistocene and Holocene.

Laboratory research is divided into two blocks:

Block 1. Solving fundamental problems of soil science, ecology and environmental management related to identifying the role of paleocryogenesis in the formation, functioning and preservation of modern soils in the center of the East European Plain.

Block 2. Evolution of landscapes and soils in the Holocene and Pleistocene based on an integrated geoarchaeological approach, human impact on the environment.

Achievements:

For the first time, a new concept of “cryolitopedogenesis” was proposed. A concept has been developed for establishing a connection between the long-term processes of cryolithopedogenesis of the late Pleistocene and Holocene, which formed the paleocryogenic microrelief and determined the formation of the modern soil cover of the center of the East European Plain. The process of cryolithopedogenesis is a single interdependent development of three natural components: areas of the earth's surface (paleocryogenic microrelief), the rocks that make up these surfaces, and the soils formed on these rocks.

Consideration is given to the genesis and evolution of soils in the steppe zone of Russia, and a theory is proposed regarding their short-term climatogenic dynamics over the last 5000 years. Schemes for studying surface and paleosols of the Holocene and Pleistocene of the forest-steppe and forest zones have been developed and tested, taking into account modern ideas about the two-term of their profiles. A high-resolution chronostratigraphic sequence of events has been reconstructed, and the question of the time and duration of individual soil stages in the Mikulino Interglacial, Valdai Early Glacial, and Holocene is considered. The direction and rhythm of the main soil-forming processes have been reconstructed and a scenario of cardinal climatic changes during the transition from the Mikulino interglacial to the Valdai early glacial has been proposed, including the appearance of the first signs of permafrost, intensification of forest fires, etc.

For the first time in Russia, the micromorphology was used to study artificial earthen structures (mounds, ramparts, earthen floors), and technological methods for their creation were identified.

Three evolutionary stages of Early Pleistocene pedogenesis in the volcanic region of Transcaucasia were identified. In the earliest chronointerval, ~1.9-1.77 million years ago, Humus Vertic Cambisols and Colluvic Regosols developed in the region. This means a wealth of vegetation, particularly grass, and alternating wet and dry seasons throughout the year. Savanna-like landscapes and (sub)tropical climates have been reconstructed. Towards the end of the formation of the studied sequence, ~1.77 million years ago, climatic conditions remained subtropical, but became wetter and the Stagnic Cambisols and Andosols developed with an abundance of signs of waterlogging. In the last period, around the interval of 1.4-1.5 million years ago, climatic conditions became colder or temperate warm, which led to the development of Luvisols.

The most important conclusion is a significant cooling in the last studied time interval. The ancient hominids were probably able to adapt to them, and their life here continued for a very long time, since archaeologists, based on their data, suggest a continuous development of the local Acheulean tradition from the early to middle Pleistocene. 

The anthropogenic influence of medieval large cities on soils and landscapes, including geochemical indicators, in the forest zone of the Central Russian Upland is shown.

For the territory of the Lower Volga region (Trans-Volga region), based on the example of studying sites of the Neolithic and Eneolithic times, data were obtained and clarified concerning the changing periods of moisture and aridization of the territory, the stages of soil formation and sedimentation, and  vegetation cover in the Holocene. The data obtained showed that over the last 7.5 thousand years ago there has been a periodic change from arid to humid conditions and vice versa. During periods of aridization, slow and short-term sedimentation occurred, which was associated with high rates of weathering and transport of (aeolian) sediments. Periods of humidization are characterized by intensive processes of sedimentation and soil formation. The data obtained showed that over the past 5 thousand years there has been an increase and intensification of climate humidization processes in the region. Calculations of the rate of sedimentation and soil formation in the Holocene for the study area showed that the rate of sedimentation and formation of buried and modern soils in different periods of the Holocene varied from 35 to 0.8 cm/100 years. Reconstruction of the soil and environmental conditions of the region revealed unequal paleogeographical conditions in different territories of the Lower Volga region (Volga and Trans-Volga regions). Periodic changes in environmental conditions in the Holocene of the region under consideration affected not only the formation of soils, but also the life, settlement and migration of the tribes living here.

Trends in changes in air and soil temperatures for the period 1931–2020 were identified for soils of the forest-steppe zone in the south of Western Siberia. It has been shown that modern warming leads to changes in the temperature regime of soils and increased aridization. Climatic maps of changes in air temperature and humidity have been compiled for the European territory of Russia and Western Siberia.

It has been established that in the forest-steppe of Western Siberia at the beginning of the Holocene, 10.3–9.0 thousand years ago, as the climate warmed, tundra-steppes with dark-colored soils formed. In the boreal period, 9–7.7 thousand years ago, the environmental conditions were humid and warm, hydromorphic forest soils and chernozems developed. During the Atlantic period, 7.7–5.0 thousand years ago, when the climate was warmer and drier than today, forest soils and chernozems spread. During the period X–XIII centuries AD the climatic warming was noted  whereas in the XIV–XIX centuries AD – cooling. Currently, temperature increases, with different trends in humidity changes, are occurring at a faster rate than during the Holocene, which leads to frequent hurricanes, floods, droughts and a decrease in agricultural productivity.