Abstract—

In a laboratory experiment, the rate of mineralization of organic matter in samples of oil-contaminated and background soils formed in the main types of the middle-taiga biogeocenoses of Western Siberia was determined. The rate of mineralization was estimated by the amount of CO₂ released from wet samples at room temperature. The cumulative curves had a linear form. Therefore, the values of the average daily CO₂ release per 1 g of dry soil (K_m) were used to estimate the mineralization rate. The K_m values varied in the range of 0.1123–1.578 mg CO₂/g per day. Minimum K_m values (<0.2) were typical of the oil-polluted forest soils with the maximum content of oil products; high K_m values (>0.8) were determined on the soils of uncontaminated background plots and oil-polluted plots of mesotrophic and eutrophic biogeocenoses with the neutral reaction and increased concentrations of biophilous elements. Moderate values (0.2 < K_m <0.8) were typical of the plots confined to initially oligotrophic bogs (ryams, ridged-hollow bog complexes) moderately polluted with oil. The K_m values negatively correlated with the contents of petroleum products (K = –0.50), n-alkanes (K = –0.73), and the coefficient of oil biodegradation (K = –0.72).