How is the fragipan incorporated in the pore space architecture of a boreal Retisol?

A fragipan is a diagnostic subsurface soil, not a cemented horizon, which is characterised by high density, and so restricts root penetration and water percolation. Although fragic horizons are considered to be pedogenic, the exact genesis of this phenomenon is not well understood. Quantitative study of pore space characteristics in a profile with a fragipan could help in understanding its origin and its pedogenic links to the other diagnostic horizons. Micromorphological and morphometric study of the porous network in soil thin sections and computed tomography in an Albic Fragic Retisol (Cutanic), formed in glacial till of Valday (Wurm) Glaciation in the South Karelia region in the north of Russia, showed a differentiation of pores by shape and distribution for each soil horizon controlled by the type of soil-forming processes. In particular we detected a difference in pore space organisation in the fragic EBx compared with other horizons. The pore space in the EBx was mainly represented by closed micropores, spread homogenously in the soil horizon body, independent of fissure and packing pores. Thus we propose that the pore system in this horizon was heterochronous, with micropores formed at the time of structural collapse and the fissures and other pores formed later.