BASALTIC SOILS OF SOUTH-WEST ICELAND. II

Data for mechanical and chemical analyses are presented with tabulated mean and median values based on fifty-five freely drained and ten poorly drained soils. The soils are relatively coarsed textured. The sand content of the mineral fraction is about 70 per cent (mean value) for freely drained and about 45 per cent (mean value) for poorly drained soils. Organic C is generally high in freely drained soils but relatively low in poorly drained soils, because of accumulating aeolian matter in the latter group, mean values are 8.2 in freely drained and 16.5 per cent in poorly drained soils. The C/N ratio is about 15 for each soil group. The cation exchange properties including pH seem to be dominated by organic matter, which may contribute to the total CEC of the soils about 165–300 me/100 g C. CEC of soils is usually 40–50 me/100 g. For some selected soils CEC of the separated mineral fractions was confirmed experimentally through ammonia retention. The pH level, especially of the freely drained soils, is relatively high (mostly 5.4–6.3) in spite of low degree of base saturation (mostly 10–30 per cent), a characteristic probably derived from the parent material. A highly significant correlation exists between pH and organic C. Proportionally exchangeable Ca seems low, while Mg and Na may be abundant. In some soils exchangeable Mg may exceed Ca.