Field and chemical Evaluation of volcanic ash deposition in some soils of Malaysia

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the extend of volcanic ash deposition and distribution in some soils of Malaysia. A total of 12 soil types of different geology and locations from Peninsular Malaysia and West Sarawak were collected and analysed for their physico‐chemical and dissolution analysis. All soils under study belonged to either the order of Inceptisols, Ultisols or Oxisol. They were acidic and had relatively low CEC and exchangeable bases. The Al saturation percent were higher in the Ultisols as compared to the Oxisols. Field and laboratory investigations, and the dissolution analysis comprising of the binary ratio, ferrihydrite percent and allophane content, suggested that the soils under study were highly weathered and non‐allophanic. The soils of West Sarawak, however, may contain a reasonable deposits of the volcanic ash materials, as shown by the higher pH_NaF values of near 9.4, but other laboratory analysis were still not conclusive of the result.

Keywords:

• Volcanic ash
• physico‐chemical
• Malaysia

Notes

Address for correspondence: Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.