Statistical Assessment of Fluvisols in “Gladino” Gravel Quarry, Chelopechene, Bulgaria

Abstract

e paper presents results of an investigation on Fluvisols. The soils are located in “Gladino” gravel quarry, Chepintsy district, Bulgaria, on an area of 1.043 km2.Soil samples were taken from fifteen soil profiles at a depth of 0-100 cm. The factors of soil formation were characterized and it`s physicochemical properties were studied. The changes in physicochemical properties were investigated at different soil depths and the relationships between different soil characteristics were tested by correlation analysis. The results reveal that some soil characteristics, such as the content of clay, sand, organic matter, and the soil porosity have strong positive or negative correlation with the soil depth. The soil characteristics such as acidity or alkalinity of soil (pH), the content of loam, bulk density, Total Kjeldal Nitrogen (TKN), mobile phosphorus and potassium demonstrated an insignificant or weak relationship with the soil depth. There are significant correlations between the physicochemical soil properties in 28 out of 78 cases. All results are discussed in relation to soil formation processes in the studied region.

Keywords

• uvisols
• Physicochemical properties
• statistical assessment
• gravel quarry