Sulphur distribution in surface soils of high and MID hills of Himachal Pradesh. I Shimla region

摘要

Studies conducted on 33 surface soils representing high and mid hills of Shimla region of Himachal Pradesh revealed a totalsulphur content in range of 1109-5260 ppm, which showed a linear increase with rise in altitude. Organic sulphur constituted 75-95 per cent of total S content and bulk was closely associated with soil organic matter. The adsorbed S varied from 16.0 to 39.8 ppm. The SO_4-S constituted fraction of total S and varied from 0.65 to 5.14 per cent. The six extractants used to categorize these soils for their sulphur availability in decreasing order were Ca (H2PO4)2 < NaOAc < NaCl < NH_4OAc < NaHCO_3 < CaCl_2. Except NaHCO_3-S all the five tests were highly correlated among themselves. Total as well as organic S had a close relationship with silt while that of adsorbed S, NaOAc and Ca (H_2PO_4)_2-extractable S was related to sand fraction.