Nature and properties of limestone soils in Peninsular Malaysia with special reference to the Merapoh Area, Lipis, Pahang
2002
Lim, Jit Sai, Soil Management Division, Dept. of Agriculture, Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) | Ibrahim Saleh, Soil Management Division, Dept. of Agriculture, Temerloh Pahang (Malaysia)
Soils developed on limestone are somewhat heterogeneous differing in morphological, physical and chemical properties due to differences in topography, drainage conditions, parent materials and geomorphic processes. The colours of the soils are variable and are darker in appearance than other upland soils as the manganese content is generally higher in these soils. The soil depth have come from shallow to deep. The texture commonly found in soils is a clay, which is believed to have come from the adjacent shale-derived soils and redistributed by pedimentation over the landscape rather than from the weathering of limestone in situ. The soil drainage is also variable, ranging from somewhat excessively drained to poorly drained. For soils overlying the limestone bedrock, the ground water influence or endosaturation is absent and soil drainage is influenced by episaturation. The presence of stonelines consisting of iron and iron-manganese nodules is used as a criterion for soil mapping and classification. Many of these nodules are smooth, rounded and fairly uniform in size, and resemble buckshots used in hunting rifles. These unique features of the nodules are attributed to reworking of pedimentation process. Chemically, many of the soils have a high base saturation with calcium as the dominant cation. Soil and landscape formation is largely influenced by pedimentation which has resulted in the characteristic undulating and gently rolling topography between steep limestone hills.
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