Question

The only soil of India which has high water retaining capacity is _________.
A.Alluvial soil
B.Mountain
C.Black
D.Red

Answer 1

Hint:Soil is the top most layer in the crust of earth which contains a mixture of rocks and organic debris. The formation of soil is contributed to factors including climatic scenarios, vegetation and other life-forms living in the region. Humans living in the area and their lifestyle also influence it to a large extent.

Complete answer:
India is one of the countries with a huge diversity in soil structure.one of the main reasons for this is the presence of various landforms and climatic conditions. At earlier times, soils used to be classified into two varieties called Urvara and Usara, indicating fertile soil and sterile soil respectively. Before studies became well advanced around soil types, they were categorised on the basis of their external features like colour and slope of land. Based on texture, main soil types were identified as sand, clay, silt and loam, etc. On the basis of colour, they were red, yellow, black, etc.

Black soil is one of the major soil types present in Indian terrain. It is present over the majority of the land in the Deccan Plateau which includes parts of states from Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu. It is present on the banks of both Godavari and the Krishna rivers as well. The black soil is very deep. It is also known by the name ‘Regur Soil’ and due to the production of cotton plants it is also known as the ‘Black Cotton Soil’. It is clayey in appearance and texture, deep and impermeable. They become swollen in the presence of moisture with a sticky outer part and reduce when dried. In the dry season, this soil will form cracks. To cope with slow absorption rates and excess loss of moisture, the black soil tends to retain the moisture for a very long time, which increases the crops during summer times or dry season.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note:Soil water holding capacity is the amount of water that a soil can store in order to help the crops during dry season for. Soils with large surface area can easily hold onto water so it has a higher water holding capacity. Water retention depends upon the grain size of the soil. The finer the soil particles, the higher the chance that water molecules shall hold on to soil particles, such as in clay, as opposed to sandy soil, that has large and coarse particles that are not cohesive.