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ORIGINAL PAPER
Morphology and properties of calcareous soils along a cultivated slope catena in the Beskid Foothills, Eastern Slovakia
 
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1
University of Rzeszów, Faculty of Technology and Life Sciences, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Environmental Protection and Management, Department of Soil Science, Chemistry of Environment and Hydrology, Zelwerowicza 8b, 35-601 Rzeszow, Poland
 
2
University of Prešov, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, Department of Geography, 17th November Street 15, 080 01 Prešov, Slovakia
 
3
National Agricultural and Food Centre, Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Regional office Prešov (based in Malý Šariš), Malý Šariš 221, 080 01 Prešov, Slovakia
 
 
Submission date: 2025-07-24
 
 
Final revision date: 2026-08-04
 
 
Acceptance date: 2026-10-07
 
 
Online publication date: 2026-10-07
 
 
Publication date: 2026-10-07
 
 
Corresponding author
Stanislav Torma   

Department of Soil, Science and Soil Protection Malý Šariš 221, 080 01 Presov, National Agricultural and Food Centre, Slovak Republic
 
 
Soil Sci. Ann., 2026, 77(3)241491
 
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Soil processes in rendzinas are primarily influenced by the calcareous bedrock, which constitutes the soil substrate. In sloping terrain, these processes are further modified by slope denudation and colluvial deposition, involving the erosion of convex slope sections and the deposition of solimovic materials in concave areas and at the base of the slope. This dynamic shapes both the slope's geomorphological profile and the associated soil development. Four soil profiles were analyzed in the southern Beskid Foothills near Prešov, Slovakia, along a 500-meter east-facing slope with a 67-meter elevation difference. Specific sampling locations included a flat hilltop, a convex slope section, a transition zone from convex to concave slope, and the slope base. Under agricultural cultivation, a deep, skeletic, Calcaric Cambic Leptosol was developed on the flat hilltop. On the 11° inclined convex slope section, a 25-cm-thick arable-humus Ap horizon directly overlies solid rock, resulting in a skeletic Rendzic Leptosol. At the slope base, Endogleyic Cambisol was developed from non-skeletic solimovic deposits. The top-down decalcification of detritus, accompanied by the emergence of low hydrolytic acidity, was observed in the slope soils. The sorption complex exhibited a high degree of saturation with alkaline cations, exceeding 93.7%, with calcium being the dominant cation. Notably, exchangeable sodium accounted for approximately 10% of the cation-exchange capacity (CEC). A distinctive characteristic of the soils within this transect was their high total iron content, ranging from 1.82 to 4.50 % Fe, contributing to the red coloration (2.5 YR).
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