Evaluation of Soil Development and Weathering Intensity of Shrink-Swell Soils within the Painganga Valley, Yavatmal District, Maharashtra, India

Evaluation of Soil Development and Weathering Intensity of Shrink-Swell Soils within the Painganga Valley, Yavatmal District, Maharashtra, India | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Evaluation of Soil Development and Weathering Intensity of Shrink-Swell Soils within the Painganga Valley, Yavatmal District, Maharashtra, India B. P. Bhaskar¹, R. P. Sharma², S. G. Anantwar³, S. V. Bobade³ This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7296906/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 13 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Effective crop management in shrink-swell soils is constrained by limited understanding of the chemical weathering processes influencing soil evolution in the Painganga valley. This study examined seven types of shrink-swell soils in the valley using physical, chemical, and geochemical analyses. The soils are moderately to strongly alkaline and display calcium carbonate accumulation in subsurface horizons, with dominance of calcium and magnesium in the exchange complex. Nutrient analysis reveals poor to marginal fertility, with widespread deficiencies in nitrogen, phosphorus, and DTPA-extractable zinc. Elemental analysis showed silicon as the most abundant oxide (mean 23.53%), followed by aluminium (8.82%) and iron (6.2%). The high molar Si/Al ratio (> 3) and low K/Al ratio (< 0.2) indicate a significant amounts of smectitic clays. The Herron diagram suggests that iron-rich sands are the primary sediment source. Correlation analysis revealed a moderate correlation between iron and titanium (r = 0.53**) and a strong relationship between iron and aluminium (r = 0.80**), indicating possible formation of iron-titanium hydroxides derived from alumina. One-way ANOVA results showed significant differences among soil groups for the fine clay to total clay ratio, mAl/mSi and mSi/mFe ratios, and weathering index (W₁). Migration coefficients indicated substantial depletion of silicon, aluminium, iron, and potassium in endogenic horizons due to moderate weathering and profile homogenization. The Si vs. Al + K + Na plot reinforces the role of the semi-arid climate in pedogenesis while preserving paleoclimatic signatures and the valley’s complex geological history. Soil geochemistry Vertisols Molar ratios Mass balance Painganga Valley Yavatmal Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 28 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 20 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 10 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 29 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 11 Aug, 2025 Editor invited by journal 07 Aug, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 07 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 07 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 05 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7296906","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":501719479,"identity":"81122079-f21a-41f1-9209-207392f774aa","order_by":0,"name":"B. P. 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This study examined seven types of shrink-swell soils in the valley using physical, chemical, and geochemical analyses. The soils are moderately to strongly alkaline and display calcium carbonate accumulation in subsurface horizons, with dominance of calcium and magnesium in the exchange complex. Nutrient analysis reveals poor to marginal fertility, with widespread deficiencies in nitrogen, phosphorus, and DTPA-extractable zinc.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eElemental analysis showed silicon as the most abundant oxide (mean 23.53%), followed by aluminium (8.82%) and iron (6.2%). The high molar Si/Al ratio (\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;3) and low K/Al ratio (\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.2) indicate a significant amounts of smectitic clays. The Herron diagram suggests that iron-rich sands are the primary sediment source. Correlation analysis revealed a moderate correlation between iron and titanium (r\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.53**) and a strong relationship between iron and aluminium (r\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.80**), indicating possible formation of iron-titanium hydroxides derived from alumina.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne-way ANOVA results showed significant differences among soil groups for the fine clay to total clay ratio, mAl/mSi and mSi/mFe ratios, and weathering index (W₁). Migration coefficients indicated substantial depletion of silicon, aluminium, iron, and potassium in endogenic horizons due to moderate weathering and profile homogenization. The Si vs. Al\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;K\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;Na plot reinforces the role of the semi-arid climate in pedogenesis while preserving paleoclimatic signatures and the valley\u0026rsquo;s complex geological history.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Evaluation of Soil Development and Weathering Intensity of Shrink-Swell Soils within the Painganga Valley, Yavatmal District, Maharashtra, India","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-19 09:28:17","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7296906/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-10-28T11:35:30+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-20T09:55:23+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"288452023804826250850749065993346704163","date":"2025-10-15T08:39:01+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"15613961108452636608459017938015414820","date":"2025-10-10T13:05:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"25542455513061187648651163124470651098","date":"2025-10-07T11:28:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-29T06:05:30+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"287163293699313838394167290624606860913","date":"2025-08-18T06:11:14+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"260640528966201179880817196566385571136","date":"2025-08-11T17:00:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-08-11T15:39:35+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-08-07T12:04:48+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-08-07T11:46:06+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-08-07T11:43:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Discover Soil","date":"2025-08-05T06:07:21+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-soil","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Soil](https://link.springer.com/journal/44378)","snPcode":"44378","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44378/3","title":"Discover Soil","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"fbb05e71-b43c-4bac-bb37-904b1120ed6e","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 19th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-01T07:23:15+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-19 09:28:17","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7296906","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7296906","identity":"rs-7296906","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}