According to the ideas of diversity of soil formation process continuity (s.f.p.c.) - "within daily", "within annual", "within long-term", "within centuries old" and others (Slesarev, 1995) - frost can function both a factor, and a disfactor of soil formation. That is characterized by the forms of frost continuity in the surface layers of lithosphere (within daily, within annual, within long-term and others) with their reference to various forms of s.f.p.c. In relation to "within-daily" form of s.f.p.c. any frost can`t be considered as soil formation factor, because frost in such case breaks off s.f.p.c. "Within annual" form of s.f.p.c. includes periods of within daily cryogenesis, therefore in this case, within daily frost acts as soil formation factor; within annual (seasonal) frost, concerning to above-mentioned form acts as soil formation disfactor. "Within long-term" s.f.p.c. form includes periods of within daily and within annual cryogenesis as parts of s.f.p.c., and consequently, within daily and within annual frost asts in such case as soil formation factor; within long-term and within centuries old frost breaks off s.f.p.c. and works as soil formation disfactor.

                   Estimation of frost functions
             (factor or disfactor of soil formation)

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Form of s.f.p.c.                Continuity of frost form
                     --------------------------------------------
                      within daily within annual within long-term
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"within daily"          disfactor    disfactor      disfactor
"within annual"           factor     disfactor      disfactor
"within long-term"        factor       factor       disfactor
"within centuries old"    factor       factor         factor
-----------------------------------------------------------------


M.A. Zibaikina
Institute for Soil Sciences and Agrochemistry SO RAN
Sovetskaya Str. 18,
Novosibirsk-99, 630099, RUSSIA
Telephone: (3832) 225 088
Fax: (3832) 225 665
E-mail: soil@issa.nsk.su