Status and Distribution of Different Forms of Sulphur in Some Typical Soil Profiles of West Bengal

Analyses of 12 selective soil profiles of five major soil zones of West Bengal showed that except in coastal saline soils, organic sulphur constitutes the major fraction of total sulphur. Total sulphur content in soils generally decreases with depth and varies from 18.7 to 333.2 ppm with an average of 130.6 ppm. Contribution of inorganic sulphate-sulphur to total S is quite high (48%) in coastal saline region. Ester-sulphate S and carbon-bonded S accounted for 2.8 to 84.8% (average 41.5%) and 6.6 to 73.5% (average 37.6%) of total S, respectively. Significant correlations were observed between organic S and its two major components, total N and organic C content of the soils.