Resources and Development — Part 2: Soils, Erosion and Conservation: visual lesson, CBSE Class 10 Social Science

Lesson

Soil: the living skin of the land

Part 2 — how soil forms, the six major soil types of India and where they are found, and how we can stop soil erosion.

In this lesson you will

Part 2 at a glance

Diagram

Running water, wind, glaciers and decomposers all help in soil formation, along with chemical and organic changes.

Diagram

Table of six soils: alluvial in the northern plains, very fertile; black in the Deccan trap, clayey and good for cotton; red and yellow in the eastern and southern Deccan, red from iron; laterite in Kerala, Karnataka and other heavy-rain areas, leached and low in humus; arid in western Rajasthan, sandy and saline; forest soils in hilly areas
Soil	Main areas	Key feature
Alluvial	Northern plains; eastern coastal deltas	River-deposited; very fertile; most widespread
Black (regur)	Deccan trap: Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Malwa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh	Clayey; holds moisture; ideal for cotton
Red and yellow	Eastern and southern Deccan; Odisha, Chhattisgarh	On crystalline igneous rocks; red from iron
Laterite	Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, hilly Odisha and Assam	Intense leaching; low humus
Arid	Western Rajasthan	Sandy, saline; kankar layer below
Forest	Hilly and mountainous areas	Texture varies with slope; acidic in snowy Himalayas