Chernozem

Chernozem
Chernozemic soil
Chernozem field in Black Dirt Region of Orange County, New York, United States
Used in:	WRB, other
WRB code:	CH
Profile:	AhBC
Parent material:	Loess
Climate:	Humid continental

Chernozem (from Russian: чернозём, tr. chernozyom; IPA: [tɕɪrnɐˈzʲɵm], translated as "black soil, dirt or earth") is a black-coloured soil containing a high percentage of humus (7% to 15%), and high percentages of phosphoric acids, phosphorus and ammonia. Chernozem is very fertile and produces a high agricultural yield.

There are two "chernozem belts" in the world: the Eurasian steppe which extends from eastern Croatia (Slavonia), along the Danube (northern Serbia, northern Bulgaria (Danubian Plain), southern Romania (Wallachian Plain) and Moldova) to northeast Ukraine across the Black Earth Region and southern Russia into Siberia, and the other from the Canadian Prairies in Manitoba through the Great Plains of the United States as far south as Kansas. Similar soil types occur in Texas and Hungary. Chernozem layer thickness may vary widely, from several inches up to 60 inches (1.5 metres) in Ukraine.