Fine sand and silt mineralogy of selected horizons of Alfisols and Inceptisols representing various landforms of Banda district of Uttar Pradesh were investigated. Light minerals constituted bulk of fine sand fraction and consisted of quartz, orthoclase feldspars, plagioclase feldspars and muscovite in order of their abundance. Heavy minerals occurred in minute amounts and were dominated by opaque minerals, zircon, hornblende and biotite. In silt fraction, quartz was the dominant mineral in all the pedons. Variations in mineralogical make up were mostly associated with nature and composition of parent materials and degree of weathering. The soils, in general, contained moderate to high amount of weatherable minerals indicating their juvenile to intermediate stages of development.
Mineralogy, sand and silt, parent material
