Soils of the Settlements of the Yamal Region (Russia): Morphology, Diversity, and Their Environmental Role

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper studies the soil characteristics in the context of forests and tundra, revealing the main indicators of soil formation morphogenesis related to the transportation of urban construction materials. Overall, this article is meaningful, but there are still some problems. The main problem of this article is that the quantitative data provided is too little, making it difficult for readers to understand its scientific nature and application value. It is hoped that the author will seriously solve this problem.

(1) What is the basis for the sentence “Soils of megacities of the boreal and subboreal belt are most well studied.”, and why is it the best?

(2) The paper does not provide a distribution map of sampling points, a sample size allocation table, or specific basis for site selection. It only vaguely mentions "multiple functional areas". For instance, the text describes the profile Settings of "mature soil area, entertainment area, residential area, and industrial area", but does not specify the sample size ratio, sampling depth standards, or the number of repetitions for each area. This leads to the inability to verify the representativeness of the sample and doubts about its statistical validity.

(3) The analytical methods for key physical and chemical indicators (such as pH, TOC, and heavy metals) were only briefly mentioned, without specifying the specific instrument models, detection limits, or quality control measures.

(4) Although the morphological impact of urbanization on soil (such as "human-transported materials") was described, no direct comparative data on the physical and chemical properties of soil before and after urbanization were provided. For instance, the curves of organic matter content changes before and after the construction of residential areas or the spatio-temporal distribution models of heavy metal accumulation in industrial areas were not presented, resulting in the conclusion remaining at a descriptive level.

(5) The conclusion section only summarizes the research findings but does not present quantifiable protection conclusions.

(6) The paper does not provide any element distribution map or spatial interpolation model of the soil. It only relies on textual description, and the key evidence chain is broken.

Author Response

This paper studies the soil characteristics in the context of forests and tundra, revealing the main indicators of soil formation morphogenesis related to the transportation of urban construction materials. Overall, this article is meaningful, but there are still some problems. The main problem of this article is that the quantitative data provided is too little, making it difficult for readers to understand its scientific nature and application value. It is hoped that the author will seriously solve this problem.

• What is the basis for the sentence “Soils of megacities of the boreal and subboreal belt are most well studied.”, and why is it the best?

Reply: thank you, text has been corrected.

• The paper does not provide a distribution map of sampling points, a sample size allocation table, or specific basis for site selection. It only vaguely mentions "multiple functional areas". For instance, the text describes the profile Settings of "mature soil area, entertainment area, residential area, and industrial area", but does not specify the sample size ratio, sampling depth standards, or the number of repetitions for each area. This leads to the inability to verify the representativeness of the sample and doubts about its statistical validity.

Reply: Thank you, we have added the fig. 1 by detalisation of locations on the inset map. It is also emphasized that this is preliminary and descriptive research with limitation in terms of special extent of the soil survey in remote cities of the Arctic/

(3) The analytical methods for key physical and chemical indicators (such as pH, TOC, and heavy metals) were only briefly mentioned, without specifying the specific instrument models, detection limits, or quality control measures.

Reply: thank you, data provided.

(4) Although the morphological impact of urbanization on soil (such as "human-transported materials") was described, no direct comparative data on the physical and chemical properties of soil before and after urbanization were provided. For instance, the curves of organic matter content changes before and after the construction of residential areas or the spatio-temporal distribution models of heavy metal accumulation in industrial areas were not presented, resulting in the conclusion remaining at a descriptive level.

Reply: Unfortunately, we do not know the properties of soils before urbanization. The actual soil research carried out before us was concentrated on the natural soils of the region, we began the study of the morphological organization of urban soils in the region first. We do not have chemical and physical analytical data on soils before urbanization, nor in the literature. The same applies to the composition and properties of the transported material, it is only known that it is local. In this regard, the article is mostly descriptive, we added this feature of the study to the description of the methodology. It is not possible to build space-time models based on limited and sometimes single data. This is the task of a separate article in the future. As for local authorities, their soil data are very scattered and relate mainly to petroleum products and biological indicators of pollution.

(5) The conclusion section only summarizes the research findings but does not present quantifiable protection conclusions.

Reply: thank you section is amended by new information.

(6) The paper does not provide any element distribution map or spatial interpolation model of the soil. It only relies on textual description, and the key evidence chain is broken.

Reply: yes, I agree, creation of the distribution map was not aim of this paper. This research was aimed to provide preliminary description of urban soil formation phenomena in one of the remote Arctic regions.

Sincerely yours,

Evgeny Abakumov,

Corresponding author.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper provides a morphological overview of the changes that have occurred in Arctic soils due to human influence over a relatively short period.
Although the authors provide a detailed description of the sites under study, the profiles are not detailed.
Furthermore, the heavy metal analyses in the paper should be justified, and the hypotheses put forward in the study should be concluded.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

The paper provides a morphological overview of the changes that have occurred in Arctic soils due to human influence over a relatively short period.
Although the authors provide a detailed description of the sites under study, the profiles are not detailed.
Furthermore, the heavy metal analyses in the paper should be justified, and the hypotheses put forward in the study should be concluded.

Reply: Thank you, hypothesis are formulated and added to text.

Comments to the authors of the paper APPLSCI-3754827

Line 122. It is recommended that the authors indicate the version of the World Reference Base (WRB) soil classification used.

Reply: thank you, information is added.

Line 154. It is recommended that the authors include a thematic map showing the 90 sites selected in the study area, taking into account the cities and settlements involved, as well as the main economic activities reported in the results.

Reply:  We corrected nuber of plots and provided inset map of urbanized territories on the fig. 1-C.

Line 180. It is recommended to keep the exact nomenclature of the word Figura or Fig.

Reply: thank you, corrected.

In addition, it is recommended that the authors report on the morphological description of the profiles reported for the four sites of each locality and indicate depth, consistency, color, types and sizes of artifacts found, that is, a detailed description of the superficial and subsurface horizons of the profiles reported in the results, as well as a description of the sites.

 

Reply: thank you, the soil sections formula with soil horizons provided in the text.

 

Lines 182. It is recommended to clarify the location of the sites in the locality near the Heigiyukha River (Longyugan), in order to determine whether they are reported in Figure 1 or Figure 2, or to modify the paragraph between lines 180 and 183, as it is confusing.

Reply: thank you, information in mentioned lines is corrected.

To clarify the results further, it is recommended that each locality where the profiles' descriptions and sites are located be represented in a thematic map that describes the location and sites.

Reply: thank you, the soil sections formula with soil horizons provided in the text.

 

Line 267. It is recommended that the authors show on a thematic map the location of the profiles, or the four zones of sites, and their proximity to the residential and industrial zones of the study area. This is proposed for all other sites and soil profiles in the study area.

Reply: thank you, fig. 1 has been amended by additional maps.

 

Lines 308 and 309. It is necessary to indicate the type and quantity of artifacts or materials found and their depths.

Reply: thank you, done.

Lines 462. It is recommended that the authors provide ample justification for the heavy metal analyses in the representative sites and profiles (four) for each locality, noting the negative impact and sources of contamination, even though they have been indirectly mentioned in the site descriptions.

Reply: thank you, done.

 

Line 489. It is recommended that the authors conclude by emphasizing the importance of the morphology of the sites and profiles, as well as the changes induced by anthropogenic impact or technosols

Reply: thank you, done.

 

Sincerely yours,

Evgeny Abakumov,

Corresponding author.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

I have no other comments.