1ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Ballari, Karnataka, India
2Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India
3ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
4CESCRA, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India
5Division of Agricultural Physics, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India
The objective of this investigation was characterization of clay minerals from soils of Vertisols, Alfisols, Inceptisols, and Entisols orders in India. X-ray diffractograms showed diverse mineralogical compositions in these soil orders. Vertisols were dominated by smectite, illite and kaolinite clay minerals. Alfisols presents a contrasting mineralogical array, with the dominant presence of kaolinite, vermiculite, and illite type clay mineral and these findings accentuate the distinct mineralogical identity characterizing the Alfisols, where smectite, illite, and kaolinite were prevalent. Mineralogical signatures unravel the prevalence composition within Inceptisols. Conversely, the Entisols manifests a distinctive mineralogy by the coexistence of chlorite, hydroxy interlayer chlorite, illite, and kaolinite clay minerals. The comprehensive insights into the distinct clay mineral compositions of diverse Indian soil orders, enhancing our understanding of their unique mineralogical characteristics.
Igneous rock sourced clay minerals, Mineral provenance, Minerals in alluvial soils, Parent materials on mineral occurrence, Sedimentary rock sourced minerals, Soil Taxonomy and mineral occurrence
