Black Earth: Chernozem

Posted on May 17, 2016by malagabay

Mainstream Earth Scientists are befuddled by Black Earth and happily spread their
confusion around [by the bucketful] when they conflate different varieties of Black
Earth.
For example:
When Wikipedia is waffling about the layer of Dark Earth covering the ruins of Roman
Europe they implicitly misdirect the reader by implying Dark Earth is a European
version of the fertile Terra Preta [black soil] found in the Amazon Basin.
Dark earth in archaeology is an archaeological horizon, as much as 1 m (2 3 ft)
thick, indicating settlement over long periods of time.
The material is high in organic matter, including charcoal, which gives it its
characteristic dark colour; it may also contain fragments of pottery, tile, animal
bone and other artefacts.
It is interpreted as soil enriched with the sooty remains of thatched roofs from
houses without chimneys, with other waste materials.

In some areas it appears to give the soil added fertility.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_earth
Wikipedia adds to the confusion by withholding details and photographs of Dark Earth.
But when the photographic evidence is available then its immediately evident European
urban Dark Earth isnt Amazonian Terra Preta.

See: https://malagabay.wordpress.com/2016/05/16/black-earth-dark-earth/
See: https://malagabay.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/philip-callahanparamagnetism/
For example:
When Wikipedia is waffling about black earth confusion they are explicitly
misdirecting the reader by differentiating between Dark Earth and Chernozem Black
Soils.
Londons dark earth was originally called black earth by archaeologists.
It was renamed dark earth because of confusion with the chernozem (black
earth soils in Russia; in these, the dark colour is traditionally (not universally) thought
to come from humus, rather than soot).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_earth
Chernozem is a black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus (7% to
15%), and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia.[citation
needed]
Chernozem is very fertile and produces a high agricultural yield.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernozem

Again, when the photographic evidence is available, its evident the only differences
between 7 hectares of Dark Earth and 7 hectares of Chernozem Black Soils is the higher
concentration of human settlement triage found in Dark Earth.
Dark earth over 7 hectares has been found in the Viking city of Bjrk (today
called Birka), in central Sweden, close to modern Stockholm.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_earth
The construction technique of the buildings is still unknown, but the main material
was wood.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birka

The mainstream has a long and glorious history of explaining away Chernozem Black
Soils.
Chernozem is a black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus (7% to 15%),
and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia.

Theories of chernozem origin:

1761 Johan Gottschalk Wallerius (plant decomposition)
1763 Mikhail Lomonosov (plant and animal decomposition)
1799 Peter Simon Pallas (reeds marsh)
1835 Charles Lyell (loess)
1840 Sir Roderick Murchison (weathered from Jurassic marine shales)
1850 Karl Eichwald (peat)
1851 . Petzgold (swamps)
1852 Nikifor Borisyak (peat)
1853 Vangengeim von Qualen (silt from northern swamps)
1862 Rudolf Ludwig (bog on place of forests)
1866 Franz Josef Ruprecht (decomposed steppe grasses)
1879 First chernozem papers translated from Russian
1883 Vasily Dokuchaev published book Russian Chernozem with complete study of
this

soil in European part of Russia.

1929 Otto Schlter (man-made)
1999 Michael W.I Schmidt (ancient biomass burning)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernozem

However, after all these years, they still dont understand Chernozem Black Soils.
In this review we compile the most important literature on pedogenesis of Central
European Chernozems since the 1920s, according to the soil forming factors climate,
time, vegetation, relief and man.
Our review demonstrates that there is no consensus on the factors controlling
the formation, conservation and degradation of Central European
Chernozems in published literature.
We found that
(1) no absolute time of formation could be stated so far, and that
(2) Central European Chernozems formed not only under steppe but also under forest
vegetation;
(3) the spatial distribution of Chernozems and Phaeozems did not correlate with
climate conditions or topographic position, and
(4) until now no other factors were considered to be responsible for Chernozem
development.
Recent studies showed that these unknown factors could include anthropogenic
activity and vegetation burning as they could form black soils or strongly affect the
composition of soil organic matter.
We concluded that not all soils classified as Chernozems in Central Europe are steppe
soils and thus, as they do not necessarily reflect past climate, the classification may be
misleading.

Pedogenesis of Chernozems in Central Europe A Review

Eileen Eckmeier, Renate Gerlach, Ernst Gehrt, Michael W.I. Schmidt
Geoderma 139 (2007) 288 299
http://www.geo.unizh.ch/~mschmidt/downloads/Eckmeier_Geoderma_2007.pdf
Nonetheless, some very brave researchers have managed to establish the presence of
submicron remnants of burned biomass in European Chernozem Black Soils.
Here, using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss
spectroscopy, micro Raman spectroscopy and radiocarbon dating, we characterized
the nanomorphology and chemical structure of soil organic carbon (SOC) from central
European chernozems.
We identified submicron remnants of burned biomass (1545 percent of SOC),
coexisting as amorphous char-black carbon (BC) derived from pyrolized cellulose or
soot-BC.
The BC was several millenia in age (11605040 carbon-14 years) and up to 3990
radiocarbon years older than bulk SOC, indicating significant residence times for BC
in soils.
These results challenge common paradigms on chernozem formation and
add fire as an important novel factor.
It is also clear that the role of fire in soil formation has been underestimated outside
classical fire prone biomes.
Furthermore, our results demonstrate the importance of quantifying BC in soils
because of its large contribution, longevity and potential role in the global
biogeochemical carbon cycle.
Carbon Isotope Geochemistry and Nanomorphology of Soil Black Carbon:
Black Chernozemic Soils in Central Europe Originate From Ancient Biomass Burning
Michael W. I. Schmidt, Jan O. Skjemstad and Cornelia Jger
Global Biogeochemical Cycles Volume 16 Issue 4 December 2002
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2002GB001939/full
But only time will tell if there are any researchers brave enough to test the other black
soils[spread across the World] for submicron remnants of burned biomass.

And only time will tell whether mainstream researchers are capable of recognising the
pattern formed by Chernozem Black Soils in the Northern Hemisphere.

Soil map of the Northern Hemisphere (Dokoutchaev, 1899) prepared by Dokuchaev for
the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900.
Soil Maps of the World
Alfred E. Hartemink, Pavel Krasilnikov, J.G. Bockheim
Geoderma 207208 (2013) 256267
http://www.alfredhartemink.nl/2013%20%20Soil%20maps%20of%20the%20world%20%28Hartemink,%20Krasilnikov,%20Bo
ckheim%29.pdf

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