Minicoy, one of the coral islands of Lakshadweep, is formed of coral debris and obviously the parent material is organogenic calcium carbonate. Four pedons were studied in a transect from the western coast to the eastern coast. The soil characteristics particularly colour, texture, structure, organic carbon and chemical composition showed that pedogenic activities increased from west towards east. The pedogenic processes like accumulation of organic carbon, soil aggregation, depletion of CaCO3 and enrichment of SiO2 and R2O3 were noticed in the pedons situated in the middle and eastern parts of the island. In order to classify the soils of Minicoy as per Soil Taxonomy a new word ‘Coral’ has been coined to be prefixed before carbonatic at the family level.
Coral islands, pedogenesis, Minicoy, Lakshadweep
