Lateritic soils of Kerala, India: their mineralogy, genesis, and taxonomy
P. Chandran A D , S. K. Ray A , T. Bhattacharyya A , P. Srivastava B , P. Krishnan C and D. K. Pal AA Division of Soil Resource Studies, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Amravati Road, Nagpur, India.
B Department of Geology, University of Delhi, Delhi, India.
C National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre, Hebbal, Bangalore, India.
D Corresponding author. Email: pchandran1960@yahoo.co.in
Australian Journal of Soil Research 43(7) 839-852 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR04128
Submitted: 17 August 2004 Accepted: 29 June 2005 Published: 9 November 2005
Abstract
In this study, we report the chemical and mineralogical characteristics of 4 benchmark Ultisols of Kerala to elucidate their genesis and taxonomy. The taxonomic rationale of the mineralogy class of Ultisols and other highly weathered soils on the basis of the contemporary pedogenesis is also explained. The Ultisols of Kerala have low pH, low cation exchange capacity, low effective cation exchange capacity and base saturation, with dominant presence of 1 : 1 clays and gibbsite. Presence of gibbsite along with 2 : 1 minerals discounts the hypothesis of anti-gibbsite effect. Since the kaolins are interstratified with hydroxy-interlayered vermiculites (HIV), the formation of gibbsite from kaolinite is not tenable. Thus, gibbsite is formed from primary minerals in an earlier alkaline pedo-environment. Therefore, the presence of gibbsite does not necessarily indicate an advanced stage of weathering. On the basis of a dominant amount of gibbsite, a mineralogy class such as allitic or gibbsitic does not establish a legacy between the contemporary pedogenesis and the mineralogy. The dominance of kaolin–HIV in the fine clays of Ultisols and their persistence, possibly since early Tertiary, suggests that ‘steady state’ may exist in soils developed on long-term weathered saprolite. Since the present acid environment of Ultisols does not allow desilication, the chemical transformation of Ultisols to Oxisols with time is difficult to reconcile as envisaged in the traditional model of tropical soil genesis.
Additional keywords: lateritic soils (Ultisols) genesis, mineralogy class, Soil Taxonomy, India.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the assistance of Dr P. N. Dubey, Sh. S. L. Durge, and Sh. R. P. Sharma for their help in laboratory analyses, Sh. G. K. Kamble for X-ray analysis of the samples, and Smt. Wasudha Khandwe for word processing this document The authors are grateful to the Director NBSS &LUP, Nagpur, India, for providing the necessary facilities.
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