Different types of soils in India assume different colors due to which predominant element?

Alluvial soils:

The alluvial soils are of many shades depending upon depth, (deep and shallow), deposition conditions (coarse and finer) and time (older and recent).

Red And Yellow Soils:

The reddish-yellow color is due to the presence of iron oxide. These soils are formed where the rainfall is low and there is a little leaching lesser than that in the laterite soils.

Red soils are as such usually developed on old crystalline and metamorphic rocks.

Laterite Soils

Due to higher temperatures the bacteria eat away humus and the rainfall leaches silica and lime. As a result the soils are acidic and are rich in aluminium and iron oxides.

At places where aluminium compounds dominate, the laterites are called bauxite. On account of presence of iron oxides in them the soils appear red.

Black soils:

These are mostly clay soils and form deep cracks during dry season. An accumulation of lime is generally noticed of varying depths. They are popularly known as “Black cotton soils” because of their dark brown colour and suitability for growing cotton.

Saline & Alkaline soils:

These soils occur in areas having a little more rainfall than the areas of desert soils. They show white incrustation of salts of calcium & Magne sium and sodium on the surface. These are poor in drainage and are infertile.

Peaty and Marshy soils:

When the vegetation growing in such wet places dies, it decomposes very slowly dues to excessive wetness of soils and after several hundreds of year a layer of partly decayed organic matter accumulates on the surface, giving rise to such peaty and marshy soils. These are black colored, heavy and highly acidic soils.

Types Of Indian Soils

SOIL