Distribution of Zeolitic Soils in India

Abstract

Calcium-rich zeolites control naturally occurring chemical degradation in the black soils (Vertisols and their intergrades). With the help of modern tools such as remote sensing, geographic information system, soil database, geological information, topography and other related datasets, an attempt was made to update the distribution of zeolitic soils in India. To ascertain the presence of Ca-rich zeolites in soils, mineralogical information was generated using X-ray diffraction techniques for the selected soils from the Indo-Gangetic Plains and the black soil region (BSR). The zeolitic soils are mostly confined in the pediments (sloping regions of the upland) of the Deccan plateau in BSR, although a few are also found along the valley floor. The IGP, on the other hand, hosts the zeolitic black soils along the drainage channels in the valley floor where the basaltic alluvium deposited the smectite and clay-rich sediments. The study indicates Ca-rich zeolitic soils in India to occupy an area of ~2.8 m ha, of which BSR and IGP constitute ~92% and ~8% respectively. The zeolites are mostly concentrated in the drier tracts of the country and help in maintaining soil health against natural soil degradation. While the occurrence of Ca-rich black soils in BSR was known, those in the IGP are new findings. With the help of the available information, we have generated state-of-art information approximation map on the distribution of Ca-rich zeolites in Indian soils.

Application of Zeolites in Agriculture and Other Potential Uses: A Review

“…With heating at 350-400 • C and water removal, small molecules (larger molecules are excluded) can pass through entry channels, the "molecular sieve" zeolite property [52]. Other useful properties include: cation selectivity, specifically for such cations as potassium, cesium, and ammonium; low density (2.1-2.2 g/cm 3 ); high void volume (50%); and high cationexchange capacity of 150-250 cmol/kg (CEC) [53,54]. Some physical properties among the most well-known zeolites are [21]:…”

Delineation of high‐resolution soil carbon management zones using digital soil mapping: A step towards mitigating climate change in the Northeastern Himalayas, India

“…The usual technique employed for the spatial distribution of SOC in the Northeastern Himalayas, India is the assessment of SOC concentration within a map unit, soil type or land use type (Bhattacharya et al, 2000;Choudhury, 2023;Choudhury et al, 2013). However, this approach provides less precise estimates of SOC because of larger landscape variations in a particular region (Rasmussen, 2006).…”

Thermophysical Properties of Kaolin–Zeolite Blends up to 1100 °C

“…Zeolites are microporous, hydrated crystalline aluminosilicates which are porous and widely used due to their structure and absorption properties. Many studies deal with natural or synthetic zeolites [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. Usually, zeolites contain alkaline metals or metals of alkaline earth and frequently (e.g., in the case of clinoptilolite) crystallize in a monoclinic crystal system [32].…”

“…The charge of their structure is negative and this charge can balance between monovalent and divalent cations [33,34]. Zeolites are porous and they are widely used due to their absorption properties (for example, in agriculture, ecology, the rubber industry, the building industry, households, and medicine [35][36][37][38]). Several important processes occur in zeolites during heating.…”