Biological activity of ancient cultivated soil with buried horizons (the Iverskii monastery, XVII century)

The biological activity of an ancient cultivated soil that has been in inte nse agricultural use since approximately the first half of the XVII century was studied. The potential biological activity of the buried horizon of th e ancient cultivated soil was higher than that of its modern horizon or tha t of the noncultivated soil of an adjacent territory occurring under simila r lithological and geomorphological conditions. A decreased rate of oxidati ve processes (decreased rates of CO2 production and CH4 oxidation) and an i ncreased rate of reductive processes (denitrification and nitrogen fixation ) were found in the buried horizon. A high potential denitrification activi ty (with predominant formation of nitrous oxide) was found in the buried ho rizon; in the upper horizon, the end product was molecular nitrogen.