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Analyses of 83 borehole camera video scans revealed that (i) measured groundwater levels show variations of up to about 200 m, even in borewells located in close proximity to each other; (ii) water-bearing joints located at shallow depths in deeper borewells often produce cascades of water which flow down-hole till they meet the water level; (iii) the downward flow of recharging waters directly through the existing bore-well shafts leads to the formation of a dewatered zone below the recharge zone and above the saturated zone, and (iv) the borewells completed in the dewatered zone show a direct relationship between water level and well depth – deeper the borewell, deeper is the water level. Only the currently yielding borewells, with at least one water-yielding joint below the water level give a fair estimate of the regional groundwater table.

Keywords

Borehole Depth, Dewatered Zone, Fractured Rock Aquifer, Groundwater Level.

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Surface Soil and Subsoil Acidity in Natural and Managed Land-Use Systems in the Humid Tropics of Peninsular India

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Authors

K. M. Nair ¹, K. S. Anil Kumar ¹, M. Lalitha ¹, Shivanand ¹, S. C. Ramesh Kumar ¹, S. Srinivas ¹, Arti Koyal ¹, S. Parvathy ¹, K. Sujatha ¹, C. Thamban ², Jeena Mathew ², K. P. Chandran ², Abdul Haris ², V. Krishnakumar ², V. Srinivasan ³, Jessy ⁴, James Jacob ⁴, J. S. Nagaraj ⁵, Maria Violet D’Souza ⁵, Y. Raghuramulu ⁵, R. Hegde ¹, S. K. Singh ¹

Affiliations
1 Regional Centre, ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Hebbal, Bengaluru 560 024, IN
2 ICAR-Central Plantation Crops Research Institute, Kasaragod 671 124, IN
3 ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode 673 012, IN
4 Rubber Research Institute of India, Kottayam 686 009, IN
5 Coffee Research Institute, Chikmagalur 577 117, IN

Source

Current Science, Vol 116, No 7 (2019), Pagination: 1201-1211

Abstract

Natural forests and managed plantations constitute the largest land-use systems in the humid tropics of southwestern parts of Peninsular India comprising the Western Ghats and coastal plain. Soils therein are naturally acidic and the acidity is enhanced in managed land-use systems through inputs of chemical fertilizers. Plant nutrient deficiencies and mineral toxicities constrain crop production in acid soils. Surface soil and subsoil acidity in forest, coffee, rubber and coconut land-use systems was evaluated. The spatial pattern of surface soil and subsoil acidity pointed to low intensity of acidification in Malnad region of Karnataka, moderate acidity in northern Kerala and strong acidity in southern Kerala. Among the land-use systems studied, soils under natural forests and coffee plantations were only slightly acidic in surface soil and subsoil, whereas rubber- and coconut-growing soils were strongly acidic. Both natural and managed land-use systems, however, had strongly acid reaction in surface soil and subsoil in southern Kerala. Biomass production and crop yield are constrained in strongly acid soil by toxic levels of aluminium (Al) on soil exchange complex (>0.5 cmol (+) kg^–1 soil) and depletion of basic cations of calcium, magnesium and potassium (base saturation less than 50% or Al saturation more than 50%). Surface soil acidity can be ameliorated by incorporating liming materials into surface soils. In case of subsoil acidity gypsum too should be incorporated. Under humid climate partial solubility of gypsum permits movement of calcium into the subsoil layers, wherein calcium replaces the aluminium on exchange complex and sulphate radical precipitates the aluminium by formation of aluminium sulphate.

Keywords

Base Saturation, Humid Tropics, Land-Use Systems, Surface Soil and Subsoil Acidity.

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