Characteristics and Mineralogy of Some Clay Rich Soils of the Lower Indo-Gangetic Plains of Murshidabad District, West Bengal Gangopadhyay Samar K.1,*, Ray S.K.1, Maitra A.K.1, Tiwari P.2, Paul Ranjan2 1ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning, Regional Centre, Kolkata, West Bengal 2ICAR- National Bureau of Soil Survey & Land Use Planning, SRS Division, Amravati Road, Nagpur *Corresponding author’s email <samarskg@gmail.com>, ORCID ID: SKG: http://orcid.org/0000-00028-951-0626
Online Published on 09 January, 2024. Abstract Typical four clay rich pedons developed from alluvium in Murshidabad district, West Bengal under lower Indo-Gangetic plain characterized by high clay content were studied for their morphological, physical and chemical characteristics including mineralogy to study the origin, formation and distribution of clay minerals in soil. Soils are very deep, dark brown to grey in color, very fine in control section with redoximorphic features i.e., mottles and gley. Soils are acidic to neutral in reaction, high in organic carbon, medium to high in cation exchange capacity (CEC) and high in base status. Siltation, drainage congestion, flooding are the major problems in this area for agricultural development. Mineralogically, these soils are dominant in Kaolin and mica with some interstratifications of smectite-hydroxy-interlayered vermiculite. However, high clay CEC value of these soils indicate the presence of smectite. The shrink-swell behavior of these micaceous soils with higher exchangeable Ca2+ and Mg2+ is mainly due to the presence of smectite. Smectite-rich alluvium has been carried to the site from the Rajmahal Traps of Jharkhand state by the perennial rivers once flowed towards the east. Thus, the smectite clay minerals supplies the exchangeable bases especially Ca2+ through weathering and hence raises the pH near neutral making the availability of most of the nutrients enhancing the fertility status of the soils of the lower IGP. This information will be helpful in advocating proper management practices for crops to attain higher productivity. Top Keywords Gleying, Hydromorphic features in soils, Mica – kaoline – smectite cooccurrence, Wetland soils. Top |