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Origin and Mineralogy of Nano Clays of Indian Vertisols and Their Implications in Selected Soil Properties

  • SOIL MINERALOGY AND MICROMORPHOLOGY
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Abstract—

The mineralogical composition of nano-clays (NCs), and their potential implications in soil bulk properties of Indian Vertisols are unexplored. In this study, we have isolated NCs (<100 nm) from Deccan basalt (DB) alluvium derived Vertisols (Typic Haplusterts) of central India and characterized them for their mineralogy and crystalline behavior. The soils are clayey (>60%) in texture, rich in smectite mineral (60–80% in <2 μm fraction), alkaline (pH 7.8–8.5), calcareous, and contain <1.0% organic carbon. The clay fraction (<2 μm) is dominated by smectitic NC (40–60%) followed by hydroxy-interlayered vermiculite (HIV), pedogenic chlorite (PCh), kaolinite, and mica. The smectite is little hydroxy-interlayered (HIS), and hydroxy-interlayering is less pronounced in NC smectites than in the coarser clay smectites. The NC smectites are of smaller crystallite size (3.5–5.5 nm) and higher in crystal strain (15–22%) than coarser size clays because of its low lattice charge. The abundance of smectitic NCs considerably reduces the saturated hydraulic conductivity (<1 cm hr–1) of the soils due to high dispersion and swelling (COLE ≥ 0.20) of smectite clays even at the low level of exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP ≤ 5) and a moderate amount of exchangeable magnesium. The report on nano clays (<0.1 μm) highlights the unique role of nano smectites in some selected soil properties, as well as in the origin of SAT Vertisols of the Indian subcontinent.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to Dr. D.K. Pal (Former Principal Scientist and Head, Division of Soil Resource Studies, ICAR NBSS & LUP, Nagpur,India) and Dr. S.C. Datta (Former Emeritus Scientist, Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi) for providing constructive suggestions to improve the quality of the manuscript.

Funding

Funding and instrumental facilities for this study were provided by the ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur and by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (ECR/2017/002091).

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  1. Division of Soil Resource Studies, ICAR–National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, 440033, Maharashtra, Nagpur, Amravati Road, India

    R. Paul, K. Karthikeyan, D. Vasu, P. Tiwary & P. Chandran

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  1. R. Paul
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Paul, R., Karthikeyan, K., Vasu, D. et al. Origin and Mineralogy of Nano Clays of Indian Vertisols and Their Implications in Selected Soil Properties. Eurasian Soil Sc. 54, 572–585 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229321040128

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