Worskla Forest
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The Worskla Forest (на Ворскле) is in the Belgorod Oblast of Russia. It is part of the (Sapowednik) Belogorye Nature Reserve.
It lies on the high right side of the Worskla river, between the Worskla and the Gotnja rivers. It covers an area of 1,038 hectares (2,560 acres). Geographically the area belongs to the southern part of the forest-steppe zone. The nature reserve is bordered to the north-west by the village of Krasny Kutok, to the southeast by Borisovka, and in the north and the south and west by the Worsklatal. On the left bank of the Vorskla, is the village of Dubino (Landsgemeinde Belenkoje). The territory of the forest itself is part of the rural community Kryukovo.
The western, northwestern and southern edges form the river terraces and slopes of Woskla and Loknjatal Rivers. The highest point in the forest at 217 metres (712 ft) is located in the northeastern part of the forest. The lowest point (137 metres (449 ft)) is located in Worsklatal. Through the forest run numerous small gullies that are called in this region "Jar".
In the forest there are no springs and watercourses although the forest is quite wet at the beginning of spring, after the snow melts, flowing rivulets at the bottom of canyons. The rivers Vorskla, Gotnja and Loknja flow along the forest edge for a distance of 10 to 900 metres (33 to 2,953 ft).
On the territory of the forest there is no natural pond. Only in the protection zone of the nature reserve, in the Worsklatalaue, there are small backwaters. In the 20th century, ponds were built in the Klosterrunse whose dams broke through snow meltwater. Only a pond remained at the top of the gully.
Soils
The soils of the forest at the Vorskla developed on different parent materials, especially on the loam, which is found in the eastern half of the forest. In the northwestern part of the forest, old alluvium sands play a role. They are distributed on the river terraces of Gotnja and Loknja. At the southern and south-eastern edge of the forest an oligozänischer sandy loam is common parent rock. In some places in the southern part of the forest, a rust-colored clay comes out. The oligozänische sandy loam and the rust-colored clay are the starting materials of soil formation, where erosion has removed the loess. Under the oligozänischen clay are rocks from the Cretaceous, which do not appear on the surface in the territory of the forest.
Here 20 different soil types are distinguished. They differ on the degree of podsolisation and the humus content. All floors of the Forest on the Vorskla are based on the Russian soil classification from 1977 about the types of gray forest soils.[1][2] According to the USDA soil classification they belong to the Alfi sols, after the German soil classification if they were classified as Luvisols.
