Abstract

The parent material and the relative abundance of the coarse and fine textural frac-- tions are the prime causes for the variation in the chemical composition of the Vertisols. The soils of granite origin recorded the highest Si0, content and those developed from base rich granite-gneiss and kimberlite recorded the least values followed by the soils of shales origin. The Sio, content decreased with the depth. The Al,0, content increased with increase in olay content and showed an oppsite trend of distribution to that of Si0, The Fe,O, content greatly varied among the pedons but showed more uniformity within the horizons of each pedon. The CaO, MgO, K,O and Na,O contents were found to be least in soils developed from granite while the soils derived from other parent materials were fairly rich in these bases. All these bases had shown an increasing trend with the depth except the K,0. The soils developed from lime stone and kimberlite were poor in P,0, content.

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