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8018669 
Journal Article 
Geochemistry of hydric soils in Majuli river island, Assam, India 
Bhaskar, BP; Sarkar, D; Baruah, U 
2013 
Yes 
Journal of the Indian Chemical Society
ISSN: 0019-4522 
90 
12 
2279-2285 
English 
WOS:000209279900017 
The wetlands of Majuli islands were studied to evaluate the development of soil indicators related to seasonal saturation and the processes affecting the rate of transformation of Fe and Mn contents across wetland boundaries. The elemental composition in relation to morphology and particle size of four representative hydic soils such as Kamalabari (P1) on active floodplains, Adielengi (P2) on swamps, Sonaribari (P3) on channel bars and Boritika (P4) on old floodplains were studied by developing colour indices and element to clay ratio method. The relation of colour indices with total Fe and Mn showed a significant positive relation between hue index and Fe (r=0.43*)/Mn contents (r=0.42*) whereas negatively related with chroma index. Similarly the total Fe had a significant positive relation with clay (0.63**) and organic carbon (0.63**). The distribution of Ca in Kamalbari soil (P1, weighted mean of 2.91 g/kg) and in Sonaribari (P3, 9.32 g/kg) indicated the rapid weathering and leaching whereas low Fe (less than 10 kg/m(2)) and Mn (less than 0.1 kg/m(2)) contents are due to loss through ground water flow. The Adielengi soil on swamps (P2) showed net gain of 25% for K and 136% of Cu with slight loss of Ca (28%), Fe (19.4%), Mn (13.5%) and Zn (17.4%) whereas severe loss of K, Zn and Ca in intensively paddy cultivated soils. An average linkage method was employed to workout chemical affinity and variability of soil properties among clusters. The cluster data showed that clay and bulk density are least variable whereas K, Ca, Fe and Mn is highly variable among clusters indicating the usefulness of these elements in hydric soil boundaries across landscapes of floodplain wetlands in the river island. 
Geochemistry; Majuli river island; hydric soils; element to clay ratio