Comparison of two different ophiolite districts in terms of some soil physical properties of grounds

Abstract

In this study, some physical characteristics of the soils formed on the metamorphic sole and the mantle section of the ophiolitic sequence which is represented by ultramafic cumulates and tectonites located in Karacasu district in Kahramanmaraş and formed on the crustal rocks which are located around Göksun-Elbistan towns to the north of Kahramanmaraş, were investigated. In order to correlate the soil properties with the bedrocks from the different parts of the ophiolite, rock samples were collected from the same locations with 18 surface soil samples. Field capacity, permanent wilting point, liquid limit, plastic limit, coefficient of linear extensibility and volumetric shrinkage tests were performed on the soil samples. The crustal section is represented by the three different rock groups such as: cumulate gabbro (amphibole gabbro, olivine gabbro and gabbro), isotropic gabbro (gabbro) and sheeted dike complex (diabase). According to independent “t test” results; the physical properties of two fields were different from each other, except for the linear extension coefficient, ( P <0.001). Statistically significant relationships were determined among the measured variables, organic matter content, and soil texture. This is attributed to the fact that the ophiolites in the Karacasu area are more altered than the ophiolites in the Göksun-Elbistan area, and this difference in the alteration affects the soil properties over the mineralogical composition.