Human-induced changes in the soil cover at the mouth of the Vistula River Cross-Cut (northern Poland)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to determine the impact of human activity on the soil formation at the mouth of the Vistula Cross-Cut (northern Poland). The detailed research was conducted in the test area (about 500 ha) for which the soil map was created. The three major soil belts were distinguished, grouping the soils formed on marine, aeolian and technogenic sediments, deposited both naturally and anthropogenically as a result of the hydrotechnical works. Initial soils, arenosols, gleysols, brackish marsh soils and industrial soils predominate across the study area. Most of them were characterized by high spatial diversity and multi-layering. Their properties reflected varied dynamics of the local environment on both sides of the river channel, greatly enhanced by the human activity. Based of the obtained results, some proposals concerning arenosols, marsh soils and industrial soils for the Polish Soil Classification (2011) were presented.

Keywords

• anthropogenic transformation
• hydrotechnical works
• river mouth
• soil classification
• soil mapping
• Vistula River