The First Forty Years of a Technosol

Soil formation is often a very slow process that requires thousands and even millions of years. Human influence, occasionally on a par with the function of climate or geological forces, can accelerate the process and can be viewed as a distinct soil forming factor. This paper describes a soil, Haplic Regosol, in which anthrosolization dominates the soil forming process. Man-made soils, Technosols, were stabilized with techniques of ecological engineering (crib walls). We measured the main soil properties and focused on the movement of water (the reduction of soil weight is the key factor in stabilizing these calcschists). The newly deposited debris, sheltered by anthropic interventions, after four years differentiated an A/C profile while after forty years differentiated an O/A/AB/Bw/BC/C profile. Our results indicate that colonization by plants and the consequent success of vegetation establishment is influenced mainly by control of the factor of pedogenesis ‘topography’ and by the ability of these Technosols to retain nutrients.