ISSN:
1467-9493
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Geography
Notes:
An analysis of relationships between selected soil chemical properties and parameters of parent material, climate and relief was undertaken for the savanna of north central Nigeria. Step by step examination of individual properties and the environmental parameters reveals numerous invariably disparate relationships often explicable in terms of local conditions. However, an analysis of covariance involving all variables shows that variations in base elements and cation exchange capacity are more strongly related to lithology than climatic or relief parameters. Soil pH and base saturation percentage, on the other hand, are influenced more by rainfall than parent material, altitude and slope position. Temperature and slope gradient are relatively unimportant in the variability of all soil properties. On the whole, the soil properties show significantly greater values over basalt, shale and alluvium than gneiss, schist and colluvium which in turn show greater values than sandstone, granite, granite gneiss, aeolian and ironpan-rich deposits. Exchangeable cations and cation exchange capacity increase with an increase in rainfall, altitude and downslope position while pH and base saturation per cent show a decreasing trend.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9493.1995.tb00073.x
