Question

Saline soils are also known as:
1. Bhangar soils
2. Usara soils
3. Cotton soils
4. Regur soils

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 2 : Usara soils

The correct answer is Usara soils.

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• Saline soils are also known as Usara soils.
• Various local names for saline soils are Reh, Kallar, and Chopan, Rakar, Thur, Karl, etc.
• Saline soils contain large amounts of water-soluble salts that inhibit seed germination and plant growth. The salts are white, chemically neutral, and include chlorides, sulfates, carbonates, and sometimes nitrates of calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium. 
• These soils have developed in areas with dry climatic conditions (in areas having a little more rainfall than the areas of desert soils) accompanied by a lack of proper drainage.
• These salts originate from the natural weathering of minerals or from fossil salt deposits left from ancient sea beds. Salts accumulate in the soil of arid climates as irrigation water or groundwater seepage evaporates, leaving minerals behind.

• Black Soil/Regur Soil/Cotton soil:
  • Black soil is called Regur soil and is suitable for cotton cultivation. 
  • It is essentially found in the lava-covered areas of Maharasthra, Karnataka, etc.
• Alluvial Soil:
  • Alluvial soils are soils deposited by surface water. You'll find them along rivers, in floodplains and deltas (like the Mississippi Delta), stream terraces, and areas called alluvial fans. This last category results from larger floods, causing the soil to spread out in the shape of a triangle fan. 
  • Bhangar soil is older alluvial soil. Large parts of the Northern Indian Plains are formed of the bhangar soil. Khadar soil is new and younger deposits of the alluvium soil on the flood plains