Vertical and Topographical Distribution of Cobalt, Nickel and Lead in Relation to Soil Characteristics in Different Agro-climatic Zones of Jharkhand Kumar Rakesh*, Kumar Rakesh, Karmakar S.1, Agarwal B.K. Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 834006, Jharkhand. *Corresponding author (Email: rkssacbau@rediffmail.com)
1Present address: Department of Agronomy, Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, 834 006, Jharkhand. Abstract Vertical distribution of available and total forms of Co, Ni and Pb and their relationships with different soil properties were studied in 27 profiles of different topo-sequences from different agro-climatic zones of Jharkhand. Mean value of DTPA-extractable Co, Ni and Pb in profiles of zone-IV ranged from 0.16 to 0.92, 0.06 to 0.8 and 0.28 to 2.1 mg kg−1, in zone-V 0.12 to 0.9, 0.27 to 1.1 and 0.66 to 2.22 mg kg−1 whereas in zone-VI 0.12 to 1.18, 0.06 to 2.14 and 0.3 to 1.99 mg kg−1. The mean value of total content of Co, Ni and Pb in profiles of zone-IV were 48 to 141, 113 to 445 and 74 to 453 mg kg−1, in zone-V 33 to 130, 122 to 319 and 137 to 710 mg kg−1, while in zone-VI, 46 to 152, 184 to 630 and 89 to 650 mg kg−1, respectively. Comparatively less amounts of DTPA-extractable and total contents of cobalt, nickel and lead were observed in lower horizons. DTPA-extractable cobalt, nickel and lead had negative and significant correlations with soil pH (r = -0.466**) while these were positively correlated with organic carbon and clay content. A highly positive and significant correlation was found between total content of these metals with organic carbon. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the DTPA-extractable Co, Ni and Pb were influenced by pH, clay content, organic carbon and EC to the level of 42.1, 45.1 and 48.1%, respectively whereas total content accounted for by organic carbon was only up to 38.2, 20.6 and 30.8%, respectively. Top Keywords Vertical, topography, cobalt, nickel, lead, agro-climatic zones, soil, Jharkhand. Top |