Question

Red soil is mainly found in
i) Jammu and Kashmir
ii) Rajasthan
iii) Punjab
iv) None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Red soil is a type of soil developing in warm, temperate, moist climate under deciduous or mixed forest. Red soils are generally derived from crystalline rock and are seen usually in poor growing soils, are low in nutrients and humus and are difficult to be cultivated because of its low water holding capacity.

Complete answer:
Red soils denote the third largest soil group in India covering about $10.6\%$ of India's area over the Peninsula from Tamil Nadu in the south to Bundelkhand in the north and Rajmahal hills in the east to Katchch in the west. None of the above mentioned states come under the range of areas where red soil thrives in India.
The outer plain of Jammu is covered with alluvial soils which were deposited by running water and fluvio-glacial action. The hilly and mountainous areas are generally covered by residual soils, while other areas are covered with alluvial and morainic soils.
Alluvial soil is the soil found predominantly in the north east of Rajasthan, whereas sandy soil is found in the Thar Desert of western Rajasthan. Black soil, black loamy and Red-Black soil are the other types of soil found in the state.
Punjab is filled with clay, clay loam, sandy clay, silt clay, sandy clay loam, silty clay loam, sandy loam, silt loam, sand, loamy sand and silt.
The texture of red soil varies from sand to clay and the majority is loam. The other characteristics include porous and friable structure, absence of lime, kankar and free carbonates, and small quantity of soluble salts.

Note:
Red soil in India, also known as the omnibus group, developed over the Archaean granite, gneiss, the sedimentaries of the Cuddapah and Vindhayan basins and mixed Dharwarian group of rocks. Its red colour is mainly due to the presence of ferric oxides as thin coatings on the soil particles while the iron oxide occurs as haematite or as hydrous ferric oxide. When it occurs in the hydrate form as limonite the soil is a yellow colour.