Question

Give one geographical reason for each of the following:
(i) Red soil requires irrigation
(ii) Afforestation prevents soil from getting eroded
(iii) Laterite soil is red in colour

Answer 1

Hint: In India, six types of soil deposits exist. Alluvial soil, black soil, red soil, laterite soil, desert or arid soil, and forest and mountain soil are alluvial soil. The sediments carried down by the rivers shape these soils. They're high in chemical ingredients as well.

Complete answer:
(i) The red soil's top layers are porous and sandy while the lower layers are fertile.
The red soils are very loamy, and so they do not hold water, unlike the black soils. The water seeps down into the porous soils, but as the water tends to run-off, they do not obtain adequate water for retention. Red soils with quartz present as free sand are luminous and siliceous. It is, however, particularly rich in other minerals, such as potassium.

Thus, appropriate fertiliser methods and specific irrigation techniques are then used to improve the productivity of the red soils. Crops like cotton, pulses, rice, wheat, millets, oilseeds, tobacco, potatoes, and many fruits are grown on red soil.

(ii) Soil erosion results from excessive land use and other disruptions, such as burning, mining, or intensive agricultural use. Soil depletion can have a serious effect on the quantity and quality of services rendered by the soil environment, with serious economic, social, and political consequences.

Afforestation is the planting of new trees. The underlying foundations of the trees keep the dirt layer tightly and encourage not to make the dirt free and anticipate disintegration. Therefore, through gradually planting trees, the top layer of the soil turns out to be less vulnerable to wind, water, or something likely to disintegrate. Thus, disintegration and soil erosion are avoided.

(iii) Laterite is both a type of soil and a type of rock rich in iron and aluminium and is widely known to have formed in tropical hot and wet areas. Owing to the high iron oxide content, almost all laterites have a rusty-red coloration. They form by intense and prolonged weathering of the underlying parent rock.

Laterite soil is widespread in India, covering more than 10 % of the total geographical area, including the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats (Rajmahal Hills, Vindhyas, Satpuras, and Malwa Plateau), southern portions of Maharashtra, parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Kerala, Assam, and Meghalaya.

Note: Even though Red Soil and Laterite Soil are red in colour, they are very different.

Red Soil	Laterite Soil
1.Due to the weathering of igneous and metamorphic stones, red soil is formed.2.It is extremely porous and less fertile, but it is fertile when it is deep.3.Owing to the presence of iron in it, it is red in colour.4.In parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and Jharkhand, they are present.	1.In the heavy rainfall areas of tropical India, it is created by the leaching process.2.It is less fertile, and only grass grows abundantly on it.3.Due to the little clay and a lot of red sand-stone gravel, it is red in colour.4.It can be found in the Deccan hills, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Assam, and Meghalaya.