Transect approach for assessing major and trace elemental contamination in agricultural soils of the palamaner division, chittoor district, andhra pradesh, india.

Three soil transects located in the granitic regions of Palamaner mandal, Andhra Pradesh, India, were examined to assess the pollution levels of both primary and secondary metals (Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cu, Mn, P, and Zn) and to ascertain the degree of soil pollution in agricultural areas. The soils along these transects are slightly acid to neutral, with dark brown to red rubified argillic clay-rich B horizons alongside a moderate cation exchange capacity. The A horizon soils display low organic carbon levels with a moderate variability and contain over 70% SiO, exhibiting low variability due to limited leaching in a semiarid climate.