Alpine Tundra Soil – Order Gelisols

Gelisols refers to the soil order with a layer of permafrost within 2 meters of the surface that is usually found in cold climates. Due to the harsh conditions in which it exists, gelisols only supports about 0.4% of the world’s population – the lowest percentage of any of the soil orders.

Gelisols occupies around 9.1% of the Earth’s ice-free area. Since the soil temperature is low, soil-forming processes such as decomposition (of organic material) may take a long time. Because of this, Gelisols soil stores large amounts of organic carbon.

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