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STUDIES ON THE BASALTIC SOILS OF NORTHERN IRELAND
Author(s) -
McConaghy S.,
McAleese D. M.
Publication year - 1957
Publication title -
journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 0022-4588
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1957.tb01873.x
Subject(s) - cation exchange capacity , soil water , basalt , horizon , drainage , organic matter , soil horizon , total organic carbon , geology , soil science , chemistry , environmental chemistry , mineralogy , hydrology (agriculture) , geochemistry , mathematics , geotechnical engineering , ecology , biology , geometry , organic chemistry
Summary Descriptions and analytical data are given relating to nine basaltic profiles representing soils which have been used in detailed studies on cation‐exchange properties and mineralogical constitution of basaltic soils in Northern Ireland. Three main groups of soils are considered: those with impeded or poor drainage, those with free drainage, and those which have good drainage in the agricultural sense but which show slight signs of mottling in lower horizons. In all three groups of basaltic soils the clay contents and the organic‐carbon contents fall appreciably with depth, but the cation‐exchange‐capacity values do not follow the changes in clay and organic‐matter contents. The total cation‐exchange capacity in the C or G 2–3 horizon may be as high as or higher than in the surface horizon. In freely drained profiles the cation‐exchange capacity is generally lower in the B horizon than in the A(S) or in the C horizon, and usually in poorly drained profiles the cation‐exchange‐capacity value is also lowest in the B, G 1 , or the A 2 ‐G horizon (due mainly to the fall in organic matter). Exchangeable magnesium forms a considerable percentage (up to about 40 per cent.) of the total cations in the C (or the G 2 ) horizons of basaltic soils, and vaues of the order of 20 m.e. exchangeable magnesium per 1OO g. soil are recorded for some such horizons where drainage is impeded.