Geomorphological Heritage of the Outstanding Russian Geographer and Soil Scientist Sergey Semenovich Neustruev (1874–1928)

Abstract

In his time Sergei Neustruev developed and refined the ideas of Vasily Dokuchaev about the geographic soil zonality of continents. He demonstrated that zonal phenomena were developing differently in different continent parts, the process being always conditioned by the climate and geographic geomorphological factors. Neustruev showed that river valleys changed to a great extent the latitudinal zonality, discovered that landforms played the decisive role in the soils’ distribution. landforms’ importance for soil formation could be direct and indirect. He was the first to prove that the main role in soil formation belonged to microlandforms; that within each of the climate zones the climate elements were not identical at all and that each element of landforms had its own climate no matter how small and insignificant it was. Neustruev was the first to rely in scientific writings on the ideas of William M. Davis about the cycles of erosion. He discovered and explained the importance of loess for the landforms in the loess areas: the impact of its properties on fracturing, the nature of valleys and the forms of hills as well as the impact of loess location on landforms in loess areas. The scientist demonstrated how intrazonal deserts appeared inside non-desert countries, described how erosion transformed horizontal and alluvial plains into table and sloping plains, highly dissected hilly areas, badlands, and inselbergs. Neustruev identified two trends in the development of landforms of flat deserts: either a takyr desert became an arid steppe-desert with clay soil or its landform developed into an area of hillock sands. One of his greatest achievements is the use and partial development of Davis’ concept of geographical cycle.