Abstrait

Nutrients And Alkali Metal Distribution In The Top Soil Of Bauxite Rich Hillocks In Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh, India

Rachna Chandra, B.Anjan Kumar Prusty, D.Mythily, S.R.Sarimol, P.A.Azeez

Spatial variation in the distribution of select nutrients and alkali and alkaline earth metals in the top soil of three hillocks(Raktakonda, Galikonda and Chittamgondi) near Visakhapatnam(Araku valley) India was explored. The study was undertaken during November 2006 to January 2007. The soil samples were collected up to a depth of 10 cm as two 5 cm slices. The soil type in the mine area was acidic with clayey loam texture. Total organic matter(TOM), total nitrogen(TN) and total available sulphur(TAS) ranged from 16.27 to 56.51 %, 3467 to 7829 mg/kg and 3.71 to 332.40 mg/kg respectively. The lowest and highest values for chloride were 153.70 and 342.87 mg/kg. The exchangeable bases were in the order of Ca>Mg>K>Na>Li. Cation exchange capacity(CEC) was in the range of 39.2 to 187.5 meq/kg. Two-way ANOVA for pH, EC, TDS, and alkali and alkaline earth metals showed significant variation(P<0.05) among sites. Except for TOM, TN, TAS, Na and Li, all other nutrients/elements varied significantly (t-Test, P<0.05) between months. Among the alkali metals, K was positively correlated with Ca and Li. K, Ca and Li were positively correlated with TAS in soil, while Na was negatively correlated. Ca was negatively correlated with TN.