Clay mineral map of the states: Tripura State

Abstract

Earlier exercise on the preparation of maps on clay minerals for Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar could not define the boundaries well because of lack of required data. Appreciating this as an important exercise for efficient management of natural resources, attempts are being made by NBSSLUP (ICAR), Nagpur to complete the task of generating clay minerals maps of different states. In this endeavour a map of clay minerals of Tripura has been completed and the details of that indicate the following. The soil series association map (1:50,000 scale) was used as a base map. The clay samples of the selected soil series (<2 m) were analysed by X-ray and the clay mineral content was estimated using XRDs. The soil parameters such as cation exchange capacity, clay and organic matter content were used to correlate the mineral make-up in the clay fractions. The data on clay minerals for 48 soil series from Tripura were utilized to generate a clay mineral map for the state.