Characterization of soils of Hanumankoppa microwatershed in northern transitional zone of Karnataka

Ten typical pedons representing upland, midland and lowland physiographic forms in Hanumankoppa micro-watershed under northern transitional zone of Karnataka were selected and studied for morphological, physical, chemical and physico-chemical properties of soils in relation to variations in physiography. The upland soils were moderately deep (90–110 cm), reddish brown to red in colour (5 YR- 7.5 YR), sandy loam in texture, moderate, fine and subangular blocky in structure, slightly acidic to neutral in reaction, low in CEC (6.9 to 18.9 cmol (p+) kg−1) and medium in base saturation. The low land soils were deep to very deep (>145 cm) with yellowish brown to brownish grey in colour, strong, fine and granular to sub-angular blocky in structure,clay loam to sandy clay in texture, neutral to slightly alkaline in reaction, medium in CEC (6.2 to 34.2 cmol (p+) kg−1) and highly base saturated. The forest pedons were granular in structure, fine textured, high in organic carbon content (12.4 to 13.7 gkg−1) and medium to high in base saturation (74.9 to 86.5%).