Soils of Marie Byrd Land—one of the remotest and difficultly accessible regions of Antarctica—
were investigated in the area of the mothballed Russkaya station located to the south of 74° S. Despite the
extremely severe wind regime (the average wind velocity is 13 m/s, and the maximum wind velocity is up to
60 m/s), the projective cover of vegetation in the area of the station averages 25–40% and reaches 60–80% in
some places. The phenomena of physical weathering of the bedrock—exfoliation, stone pavements, residual
rocks exposed by wind (hoodoos), and others—are clearly manifested. In most of the described soils, normal
organic and organomineral horizons are absent. The soil profiles represent the mixture of the residues of
mosses and lichens and the gravelly eluvium. The fine earth material is blown out of the surface horizons by
strong winds; its residual accumulation takes place in the middle and lower parts of the profiles. The classification position of these soils is open to argument; they are close to