PHYSICO-CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SOIL OF PANCHANGANGA RIVER BASINA.R. KULKARNIAbstract Continuous urbanization and industrialization have greatly increased the amount of waste generated through human activities. Most of the industries dispose the soild and liquid wastes into streams or on adjacent land. At the disposal sites the wastes interact with the soil through direct contact when the effluent is disposed on ground, and after transport and deposition when released into the water medium. Whether the soils retain or transmit the undesirable element of the effluents to the surrounding environment generally depends mostly on the characteristics of soil. Fifteen representative soil samples analyzed for physico-chemical, heavy metals and indicated that soils of the Panchanganga river basin are lateritic, deep black and coarse shallow soil in texture. Lateritic soils are acidic in nature and black cotton soils are saline in nature. The concentration of metals is according to the sequence Fe >Mn> Zn > Cu >Pb> Ni > Co > Cd. A comparison of these heavy metal concentrations with those in Global Shales suggests that the soils under study are unpolluted. |