Mineralogical composition of Lower Ganges River Floodplain and Ganges Tidal Floodplain Soils

In context of the lack of enough information on clay and others mineralogy on the AEZ basis, an attempt has been taken to study the mineralogical composition of some important soil series from AEZs 12 and 13 of Bangladesh to provide basic information for applied research. As a part of this attempt, the mineralogy of eight soils consisting of seven representative soil series of AEZ 12, Low Ganges River Floodplain and AEZ 13, Ganges Tidal Floodplain, has been reported in this paper. The clay content of the surface soils (0-15 cm) ranges from 22.2 and 40.45% and the texture varies from loam to silty clay. Mica, smectite, chlorite, vermiculite and kaolinite minerals were present in both AEZs. However, mica and smectite were predominant minerals in the <2 µm clay fraction in both AEZs. Smectite was relatively low in AEZ 13 indicating their disappearance trend due to decalcification. Other minerals like quartz, goethite, lepidocrocite, feldspars, and gypsum were also present in all the soil samples but their relative abundance is low in < 2µm clay fractions.

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