The name comes from the Russian terms for black and soil, earth or land (chorny + zemlya).The soil, rich in organic matter presenting a black color, was first identified by Russian geologist Vasily Dokuchaev in 1883 in the tallgrass steppe .Chernozem layer thickness may vary widely, from several centimetres up to 1.5 metres

The difference between multicomponent soil and chernozem is that the former has a richer composition, carefully balanced. Fertile soil is obtained by mixing the above components in optimal proportions for plants.