Dissertation on obtaining of candidate's degree, specialty 11.00.01 - physical geography, geophysics and geochemistry of landscape. - Odesa I. I. Mechnikov National University, Odessa, 2017. Estuary coasts of North-western Black Sea perform the functions of water conservation, soil protection, and recreation as well as play an important role in the ecological network of Ukraine. Notwithstanding, peculiarities of soil and geochemical conditions and processes of coastal soils remain poorly studied. Dnister and Tuzliv groups were chosen as representative examples for the study of relationships between landscape-geochemical environment and surface soil. Those groups are distinguished by the hydrological regime, chemical characteristics of water masses and sediments, morphometric features of adjacent lands, and spread of abrasion-landslide, abrasion-shear, accumulative and photogenic landforms and the processes involved in different combinations. The factors of differentiation of landscape-geochemical surrounding of estuary costs are the following: the chemical composition of rocks, especially soil-forming and water-containing; terraced slope, landslide, dam, abrasion and accumulative, erosion surface forms as well as those connected by geomorphological processes; chemical composition of the subsoil and surface waters, air and rainfall, conditioned by the proximity of sea; availability of virgin steppe associations. The soil surface of the studied coastal estuaries occupies a special place among other factors since it reflects the general patterns of landscape-geochemical conditions and the processes of soil formation. According to the combinations of soil combinations and processes, which form them, the structure of soil surface of one of the key coastal areas consists of 5 spectra - topogenic, topoerosive, erosive-hydrogenic, lithogenic-gravitational, lithogenic-photogenic of different geomorphologic-hypsometric levels and genetic types of landscape forms. Depending on the relief, it is possible to select the location with characteristic elementary soil processes and soils: watershed plains, shear and landslide slopes, slope terraces and erosion forms, terraces and taluses, hollows and depressions, cliffs, beaches, pours, braids, and estuary floodplains. As a result of combination of geomorphologic-hypsometric levels, elementary-component, barrier and cascade landscape-geochemical structure of Dniester coasts and Tuzlovski estuaries are formed. Differentiating factors of landscape-geochemical environment is the cause of formation of soil-geochemical catenae, which combine watershed level surfaces, coastal slopes and banks, and their basic characteristic landscapes. The research proposes a model of near-estuary soil-geochemical catena, which reflects regular change of landscape-geochemical situation and soils under geomorphologic-hypsometric levels. The study suggests to differentiate the landscape-geochemical environment and soil structure into near-estuary soil-geochemical catenae of shifting, sliding, and erosive costs, depending on the prevailing process. Based on the results of the study on morphology, material and chemical composition and properties of soil of near-estuary catenae, the research draws conclusions on the dependence of their properties on the location in the system of geomorphologic-hypsometric levels. Assessment of the current state of soil and geochemical environment of coastal estuaries demonstrates a combination of anthropogenic transformation with adverse natural processes (erosion, landslides, avalanches, abrasion, salinization, waterlogging). Such unfavourable processes are part of a natural evolution for underdeveloped, short-profile black soils, and underdeveloped turf soils on the levels of coastal slopes and banks. The study differentiates five categories of soils according to landscape-geochemical characteristics depending on the type and level of unfavourable processes - not degraded, slightly degraded, averagely degraded, strongly degraded, and very strongly degraded. Given the landscape-geochemical structure of coastal estuaries, the following areas were separated: watershed surfaces and mild near-watershed slides; smooth near-coastal slopes and terraces; declivous and steep coastal slopes; ravines and gullies; and coast areas. The study offers recommendations for each of the zones regarding their protection, restoration and sustainable use in accordance with their commercial and environmental role in the organization of ecological network (areas for commercial activity, buffer zones, recovery and connecting areas and core areas).
