Grouping of detritus profiles based on detailed analysis of the structures of more than 500 sections and using statistical methods was conducted for the first time. A new name, “detritus profile,” which allows one to consider litter itself, as well as peaty and peat formations in the same coordinate system, was suggested. The wide diversity of the detritus profile structure is explained by the specific character of their development in conditions of frost and mountain relief. It was established that humus and humic horizons are invariant and do not correlate with other subhorizons due to their greater age as compared with upper horizons, thus detecting their independence. Interrelation of detritus profile types with forest types and peculiarities of transformation of organic substances was demonstrated.

The distributions of the total and water-soluble macro- and microelements throughout the profile of a loamy sandy soddy-podzolic soil were studied six years after the long-term (for more than 15 years) application of sewage sludge and lime as ameliorants. It was shown that the anthropogenic factor affecting the distributions of the metals in the soil remained predominant. The highest differences compared to the control were observed for P, S, Cl, Cu, Zn, Ni, and Pb. A second accumulative soil horizon was developed, which was an additional source of contamination with mobile metals for the adjacent environments. Six years after the cessation of the application, the contents of Cu, Zn, and Ni exceeded their PPCs for sandy and loamy sandy soils.

The influence of plants and microorganisms on the migration of metals in a soddy-podzolic loamy sandy soil was studied in a simulation experiment. It was shown that the biota has a great influence on the release of metal compounds into the soil and lysimetric solutions. In most cases, the metal content was reliably higher in the variants of the experiment with the presence of biota than in the control. The microorganisms maintained a high concentration of metals in the soil solution in the course of the experiment. The influence of the plants on the metal migration begins from the third week of the experiment as the biomass grows. The dose of the introduced metals also influences the concentration of the elements in the solutions and the ratios of the Me in the soil solutions: Me in the lysimetric solutions. In all the variants of the experiment, the ratios become narrower with the increase in the dose; i.e., the migration of the metals becomes more active. The dose of 7 APC (the approximate permissible concentration) has an inhibiting influence on the activity of the microorganisms and mustard plants.

The differentiation of the soils under study in terms of the bulk chemical composition of the solid phase was mainly manifested along the profile and decreased with depth, because it was primarily ensured by the different aspects of the biogenic accumulative processes. The bulk composition parameters of the solid phase were of higher information value for determining the type of soil horizon, and the composition of the water-soluble compounds (in water extracts and natural soil solutions) reflected the features characteristic of the soil type.

The interannual, seasonal, and daily dynamics of the contents of phenol compounds in the soil solution of a peat-podzolic-gleyic soil in the southern taiga are considered. The concentrations of phenol compounds in the studied soil remain relatively stable. In the solutions obtained from different soil types, the main limiting factor is the degree of hydromorphism, which manifests itself via the biological factor—the intensity of the microorganisms activity and the composition and quality of the forest litters.

The composition of soil solutions obtained by vacuum filtration from peat gleyic podzolic soils of the Central Forest State Biosphere Reserve under field conditions was determined. It was found that the composition and properties of the soil solutions reliably differ from those of the water extracts. The natural solutions are characterized by higher concentrations of metals (primarily of Na, K, Ca, and Cu), an increased content of the hydrophobic fraction of water-soluble substances, an order of magnitude lower carbon content, and lower values of the actual and potential acidity.

The behavior of different elements in solutions from gleyic peaty-podzolic soils was described by four types of fluctuations (from weak to strong ones). With account for the spatial and temporal variation, chemical elements were divided into groups with stable (Si, Al, Na, and Cwso) and variable (Co, Mo, Ni, Sb, and Pb) concentration levels. The spatial variation component of the solution composition was lower than its time dynamics. The intratype variability of the composition of the solutions was insignificant within a season, but it was significantly affected by the contrasting climatic conditions of different years. The solutions from the upper soil horizons had different specific features. The F, H, and AE horizons were similar in their solution composition, and the solutions from the E horizon and litter differed in the concentrations of most macro-and microelements and their pH values.

A model based on the mercury-biomass concept was developed for describing the behavior and distribution of the total mercury in the profile of the podzolic soils of the Central Forest State Biosphere Reserve. The model was used for calculating the total mercury content in the genetic horizons of the soils studied. It was found that the calculated parameters agree well with the experimental results. The model proposed for the transformation of the forms of mercury in soils is also confirmed by high-speed pyrolysis thermograms.

Water-soluble mercury compounds have been studied in soils of the Central Forest State Biospheric Reserve and the Kandalaksha Reserve. It is shown that the highest mobility of mercury is typical of forest litters. In the course of decomposition and humification of plant remains, chemical affinity of mercury for mercury-binding centers in the soil solid phase increases. The effect of local topography on spatial variability in the content of water-soluble mercury compounds is more significant than that on the total mercury.

The main factors controlling the differentiation of chemical properties of northern taiga soils in coastal areas of the White Sea and the Okhotskoe Sea are discussed. It is shown that the litters of studied soils are quite similar with respect to a great number of their chemical properties. The features manifesting the highest values of F-criterion upon the subdivision of studied soils into groups may be regarded as a set of the most variable soil properties affected by migration processes.

Statistical analysis of the spatial variation of total mercury content in the upper horizons of podzolic soils of the Central-Forest State Biospheric Reserve (CFSBR) was performed. It was shown that the variation of mercury content in forest litter was mainly determined by the location in the landscape and differentiation of the forest litter profile into L, F, and H horizons. The plant fall-off fermentation and humification decreased the spatial heterogeneity of the mercury content in forest litter.

The forest litters of the northern taiga soils are shown to form a homogeneous group, independent of the soil type. Zinc in forest litters is mainly bound to hydrolyzable organic substances, i.e., to the fraction representing the available pool. The short-term and long-term buffer capacity of soils to zinc depends on the degree of humification of organic matter of forest litters.

Reproducibility and validity of Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy combined with thermal generation of mercury vapor has been evaluated. It is shown that the results of the determination of mercury by this method do not depend on the period of thermal decomposition, the mass of a specimen, and the degree of grinding of a sample.