The influence of Geology , and other Soil Forming Factors in the Inherent Fertility of Soils in the Assela Area, Arssi, Ethiopia
No Thumbnail Available
Date
1982-02
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The geology of the Asela area has been studied In de t a ~ l
and the fertility status of the soils in relation t o the
f actors of soil formation (parent material, climate, top ogr
aphy , organisms and time) examined qualitatively and semiquant
itatiVielyo The area is associated with Pliocene and
younger volcanics (central and fissur al) and is intensively
aff e cted by different episodes of faultingo Basal t s, Trachybasalts
, trachytes and acidic pyroclastics are the rocks
oc curing in the areao The major soils are the dark-dark brown
and the reddish brown soils of the plate au and the dark-browndark
ye llowish brown soils of the rifto In general, the rif t
s oils have higher plant nutrient s t atus than the plateau
soil s o Removal of materials is important on the plate au and
addition in the rifto Parts of the plateau and mo s t of t he
r i f t f l oor are affected by poor drainageo The abundance of
surf ace hindrances on the surface of the rift soils might be
attr i buted to t he young age of the rocks in the lattero In
te r ms of physical limit ations of the land, both t he lowland
and t he plateau have their drawbacks o The cumulative influence
of the topography and the climate is found to be dominantly
r e s p ons ible for the lateral and vertical variations of the
inherent fe rtility of the soilso
Description
Keywords
Geology