Field Journal of the Expedition to Survey the Soils of Poltava Huberniia by Professor V. V. Dokuchaiev

The publication is designed as a record book with a printed title page and numerous sheets for recording field observations. The cover bears official inscriptions and inventory marks, indicating the document’s institutional character and its use in scientific research.

The journal was intended for recording the results of field surveys, descriptions of soil profiles, geological characteristics of the terrain, vegetation, relief, and other natural factors influencing soil formation. Such records provided the basis for the subsequent analysis and synthesis of field data and for the preparation of some of the earliest scientific maps of the region’s soil cover.

The expeditions led by V. V. Dokuchaiev played a significant role in the development of genetic soil science. It was during his studies of the Ukrainian chernozems that a number of fundamental principles concerning the origin and spatial distribution of soils were formulated. The materials recorded in field journals became an important source for the development of agronomy, geography, and the natural sciences more broadly.

Provenance: Transferred from the museum’s scientific archive in 2001.