Abstract

Altaf Aziz Hoodbhoy, Muhammad Theba and Abdul Sattar Asif

The results obtained from investigation of soil samples collected from different units of Punjab like agricultural, commercial and industrial units are reported and analyzed in this paper. XRPD studies from various units showed that the phases present in the soil samples were Quartz (SiO2), Calcite (CaCO3), Albite NaAlSi3O4, Chlinochlore Mg 5Al(Si,Al) 4O10, Illite {(K.H3O) Al2Si3AlO10(OH)2, Vermiculite {Mg(Mg,Fe)3 (Si.Al)4 O10(OH)2.4H2O}, Gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O), Talcum {Mg3Si4O10(OH)2)}, Aluminate Al2O3, Chamosite (Fe,Al,Mg,Mn)6 (Si,Al)4O10(OH)8, Dolomite (Ca,Mg)CO3 and Epidote Ca2(Al,Fe)3 (SiO2O7) (SiO4)(OH)2. The result and mean values of concentrated data in weight %age of phases showed that Quartz, Illite, Albite and Calcite were the major constituents of the soil of Narowal and Faisalabd, while Quartz, Illite and Chamosite were the major constituents of soil in Multan. But, all other phases appeared as minor components of the soil. These were present in very small amount in the soil. From the plot of the comparison of the mean weight percentage of phases, it was clear that Illite was major phase in largest amount (53.27%, 42.62%) in the soil of Faisalabad and Narowal respectively, while Quartz (SiO2) appeared as the major phase in the largest amount (68.83%) in the soil of Multan. The special sample S-1 showed that some minerals which were already present in the soil of Narowal and Faisalabad disappeared after combining the soil samples. It means that there was a chemical phase which not only became the reason for disappearance of the minor phases but also affected the values of major phases. The appeared phases were Q, CAL and ILL while the disappeared phases were AL, CL, G, T and AM. In the same way, in the special sample S-2, CH, DL and EP did not appear after combining all the samples of Multan.