Composition and hydrophobic properties of organic matter in the densimetric fractions of soils from the Subpolar Urals

Organic matter features in the upper mineral horizons have been studied for four soils in the Subpolar Urals: humus-illuvial podbur (Entic Podzol), gleyic humus-illuvial podbur (Stagnic Entic Podzol), iron-illuvial podzol (Albic Podzol), and eluviated burozem (Leptic Cambisol). Organic matter pools have been separated by densimetric fractionation. The concentrations of carbon and nitrogen and the relative contributions of separate densimetric fractions to the total content of elements in the upper soil horizons reflect the genetic features of formation of the studied soils. The saturation of organic matter with nitrogen increases with increasing density of the fractions. The proportion of heavy fraction HF₁ characterized by a high content of fine silt particles increases in the upper horizons of podburs (Entic Podzol, Stagnic Entic Podzol) and burozem (Leptic Cambisol). The contact wetting angles, which characterize the hydrophobic properties of soils, have been determined for the densimetric fractions and horizons of gleyic humus-illuvial podbur (Stagnic Entic Podzol) and iron-illuvial podzol (Albic Podzol). These values vary from 60 to 88° among the soil horizons and from 22 to 137° among the densimetric fractions. It has been found that the hydrophobic properties of the studied soil horizons are largely determined by the contents of free and occluded organic matter fractions.