Abstract:
Soil associations on a transect west of Mindu mountains in Morogoro District were studied in order to establish the effect of parent material and topography on soil morphology and mineralogy of some soil profiles in Morogoro District based on their catenary relationships.Eight soil profiles were described, sampled, and analyzed in the laboratory. From the upper to the lower parts of the landscape, the profiles included: well drained soils formed from quartz rich muscovite biotite gneisses and migmatites; well drained soils weathered from hornblende biotite gneiss; and imperfectly drained ‘mbuga’ soils developed from old and recent fluvial materials on the Wami-Mkata plains.
The study revealed that changes in soil properties along the transect were abrupt particularly the degree of soil profile development, soil depth, soil colour, clay content, soil mineralogy, cation exchange characteristics, and accumulations of carbonates or Fe-oxides. This demonstrates clearly that the soil properties along this transect are mainly controlled by the nature of the parent materials and their position on the landscape. Soils developed from the quartz rich muscovite biotite gneisses and migmatites in the upper parts of the landscape are moderately weathered, shallo
