Physico-chemical properties of soils derived from different geologic formations in typical rainfall agro-ecological zone

Climatic conditions and geologic formations have been found to influence the nature of soils formed. Therefore, this study seeks to study the physical and chemical properties of the soils derived from the different geologic formations of a typical West African rainforest agroecological zone. 90 soil samples were generated from the field using standard field procedures. Standard laboratory method was used in carrying out the physico-chemical analysis of the collected soil samples. The results obtained showed the range of some selected soil properties coarse sand (32.25 to 61.62), fine sand (18.17 to 29.87%), total sand (62.22 to 85.93), silt (2.88 to 19.86%), Clay (10.3 to 18.46%), the structural code (1.77 to 3.77), porosity (50.55 to 61.20%), permeability (2.98 to 9.27 cm/hr), bulk density (1.35 to 1.57g/cm3 ) and a permeability class (1.77 to 2.87 cm/hr), pH (5.22 to 5.62), organic matter (5.17 to 6.60%), available phosphorus (19.43 to 28.37%), calcium (4.98 to 19.11%), magnesium (1.39 to 3.34%), sodium (0.06 to 2.8%), potassium (0.04 to 0.29%) and ECEC (8.96 to 17.14 Cmolc/kg). The results indicate the different physico-chemical properties of the formed from the different geologic formation of the study area. There is no statistical difference on the soils across the depth of the each geologic formation. The results obtained show that geologic formation have impact on the physicochemical properties of the soils. The results obtained in this research can served as a guide in soil management, utilization and conservation.