WATER REGIME AND HYDROLOGICAL HORIZONS OF CRYOGENIC SOILS

A number of approaches to the characterization of soil water regime ar e briefly reviewed. It is shown that the use of input-output character istics of the water balance as a basis for the characterization of the water regime of cryogenic (permafrost-affected) and cold soils is not promising. In this article, the water regime of cryogenic and cold so ils is classified according to the type of hydrological horizon (HH) t hat forms at a certain stage in the development of soil cryogenesis: f reezing-frozen soil-thawing-unfrozen soil.