Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
*Present address: Department of Soil Science, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad, West Indies
Soil-clays from two soil profiles from Bihar and two from West Bengal, were studied. It was found that soil-clays obtained from different horizons of the same profile did not show any noticeable variation in their mineralogical composition. Soil-clays from all the profiles contained illite as the predominant mineral, but with varying amounts of kaolinite, chlorite and quartz. DTA of EGME-clay complex served as a useful technique to identify illite in the illite-kaolinite mixture in these soil-clays. Soils from Purulia and Midnapore of West Bengal also contained considerable amounts of iron oxides, possibly goethite and/or haematite.
Soil-clay minerals, soils from Bihar and West Bengal
