Mineralogy of soils of major geomorphic units of north-eastern Haryana, India

Abstract

The study was carried to determine the mineralogy of soils of different geomorphic units for providing the more detailed information needed to improve agricultural production in north-eastern part of Haryana. The soils of the study area were slightly acidic to strongly alkaline in reaction (6-9.4). The cation exchange capacity and electrical conductivity varied from 3.10-26.80 cmol (+) kg-1 and 0.16-1.20 dSm-1, respectively. In general, the soils were siliceous in nature with SiO2 ranging from 68.60 to 87.90 percent. The soil samples from surface and subsurface diagnostic horizons were studied through X-ray diffraction. In fine sand, quartz was the dominant mineral followed by feldspars, muscovite, hornblende, tourmaline, zircon, biotite, iron ores and sphene. In silt fraction, quartz was the dominant mineral followed by mica, feldspars, chlorite, kaolinite, interstratified and traces of smectite and vermiculite. Semi-quantitative estimation of clay fraction indicated that illite was the single dominant mineral in the clay fraction of these pedons, however, its quantity was less in alluvial plains (28-30 %) compared to Shiwalik hills (36-49 %). Next to illite, a high amount of smectite (14-20 %) and vermiculite (11-17 %) were observed in clays of alluvial plains of Ghaggar (recent and old) whereas in Shiwalik hills (top and valley) these minerals were detected in small amount (6-11 %). Fairly good amount of kaolinite (10-17 %) and small amount of chlorite (4-11 %) were uniformly distributed in soil clays irrespective of geomorphic units showing their detrital origin. Medium intensity broad peaks in higher range diffractograms (14-24 A˚) indicated the presence of regular and irregular interstratified minerals in old alluvial plains of Ghaggar.

Effects of land use types on the depth distribution of selected soil properties in two contrasting agro-climatic zones

“…Compared to BZ, high value of CEC was expected in soils of Hula district due to its high clay contents which often provide large surface area for exchanging site, but it was not noted possibly because of the influence of other factors. Nevertheless, the observed CEC values in our study agreed with range (3.1–26.8 cmol kg −1 ) reported by Dinesh et al [ 32 ]. Also, the Two-way ANOVA analysis did not show any significant differences across the LUTs and agro-climatic districts, collectively implying a slow change of CEC depth distribution pattern despite the difference in land use and agro-climatic characteristics ( Fig.…”

“…As indicated in Table 3 , neither the LUTs nor the interaction effect significantly affected the depth distribution of both sand and clay contents but AgC factor (p < 0.001), implying the different impacts of weathering processes including bio-cycling processes such as decomposition on the parent materials. Due to its relative high surface area, clay fraction has been reported to possess greater number of CEC sites and associated cations [ 32 ]. However, this was not noted in our results especially in Hula where the phenomena is highly expected due to its high clay content ( Table 2 , Table 3 ).…”

“…7 d). Dinesh et al [ 32 ] reported that Zn showed irregular depth distribution pattern with increasing depth. Unlike them, our findings revealed that relatively regular Zn depth distribution with higher in the top (with EER value of >1.5 across the LUT and study sites, Table 4 ) and lower in the deeper soil horizon, which could be associated with turnover processes by plant residues.…”