What are the characteristics of laterite soil found in india?
Answers
Laterites are soil types rich in iron and aluminium, formed in hot and wet tropical areas.Nearly all laterites are rusty-red because of iron oxides.They develop by intensive and long-lasting weathering of the underlying parent rock.
Tropical weathering (laterization) is a prolonged process of chemical weathering which produces a wide variety in the thickness, grade, chemistry and ore mineralogy of the resulting soils.
Thick laterite layers are porous and slightly permeable, so the layers can function as aquifers in rural areas.
Laterites are a source of aluminium ore; the ore exists largely in clay minerals and the hydroxides, gibbsite, boehmite, and diaspore, which resembles the composition of bauxite. In Northern Ireland they once provided a major source of iron and aluminium ores. Laterite ores also were the early major source of nickel.
Answer:
The characteristics of laterite soil are as follows :
- It is of a coarse texture, soft and friable.
- It is red due to the presence of iron oxide which is formed by leaching. The soluble plant foods like potash are removed from the top soil leaving alumina and iron oxide.
- It is a porous soil; silica is removed from it by chemical action. It is poor in lime and magnesium and deficient in nitrogen.
- It does not retain moisture and hence is not fertile. It suits only special crop like tapioca, cashewnuts, tea , coffee, etc.
- It is acidic in nature as alkalis are leached.
- It is considered suitable for building purposes.