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Soils and Stratigraphy of a Portion of the Gola River Fan of Uttar Pradesh, India¹

ABSTRACT

The Gola River fan, formed at the base of the Himalayan Mountains in Nainital District of Uttar Pradesh, India, is composed of strongly to moderately sloping, thin, coarse-textured sediments over stony layers near the foothills and gently sloping, moderately thick to thick, medium-textured sediments over sand and gravel beyond some 8 to 10 km below the foothills. The two portions of the fan are separated by a spring line.

The soils of the upper portion of the fan, which is known as the bhabar, are thin and drouthy. Soils of the lower portion of the fan, which is called the tarai, have good moisture storage capacity and are highly productive. All soils are weakly developed with high pH values and high base saturation. Some leaching of bases, translocation of iron, and formation of structure has taken place in these soils, but clay movement has been very slight. Mineral alteration has not been great, the high chlorite and mica clay mineral content being inherited from the soil parent materials. Most of the soils in the tarai have mollic epipedons and cambic horizons and are Mollisols. Soils in the bhabar tend to have thinner, dark-colored surface horizons than those in the tarai, and those near the apex of the fan and the foothills are Inceptisols and Entisols.

¹ Contribution from the Dept. of Agronomy, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana. Part of senior author's M.S. Thesis, Univ. of Illinois.

² Formerly Research Assistant in Pedology and Professor of Pedology, Univ. of Illinois. The authors gratefully acknowledge the help of A. K. Sharma, V. K. Bhatnagar, and J. R. Gingrich in the field work.

Received for publication December 31, 1969. Accepted for publication July 10, 1970.