The Effect of Slope Position on Clay Mineralogy of Soils in Two Topo-Sequences with Different Parent Materials in Parts of Karoun 3 Basin, East of Khuzestan Province

Parent material and topography are among the soil-forming factors that affect soil evolution by influencing different parameters. This study was conducted to compare the effect of marl and calcareous parent materials in different slope positions, including the summit, shoulder, foot-, and toe-slopes on soil clay mineralogy in the Karoon 3 Basin, east of Khuzestan Province. Four soil profiles in each of the two topo-sequences were dug. They were sampled based on their genetic horizons and some physical, chemical properties, and clay mineralogy were measured. The results showed that the type and abundance of clay minerals identified for both parent materials were more affected by topo-sequence position. The composition of minerals identified in the topo-sequence with marl parent materials included kaolinite, palygorskite, smectite, chlorite, mica, and quartz, and in the topo-sequence with calcareous parent materials, palygorskite, smectite, chlorite, mica minerals, and quartz, and most of the identified minerals were also observed in all positions in the C horizon. However, in marl parent materials kaolinite, and calcareous parent materials, smectite seems to have been formed pedogenically. The result of the association between Weaver and Beck indicated that most of the clay minerals are in the equilibrium of Palygorskite.