WEATHERING INDEX OF GADWAL AL-GARBI SOIL PROJECT IN KARBALA PROVINCE

A field study was carried out in the year 2021 to find out some soil properties and mineral distribution of clay separated as well as the elemental oxides and weathering index in the soil deposits of the Gadwal Al-Garbi Project for Karbala Governorate, within the coordinates: longitude (44.106° and 44.217° E) and latitudes (32.480° and 32,620°N) , 50 sites were selected covering the surface layer of the project soil, the locations of the points were revealed as pits, with a depth of 0-30 cm. The result show that the average value of pH was 7.6, electrical conductivity was 4.78 dSm-1, cation exchange capacity was 22.83 Cmole charge. kg-1, carbonate mineral was 23.75%, gypsum was 0.198%, and the average values of the organic matter was 0.97%. As for the results of the clay mineral analyses , it showed the predominance of Illite , followed by vermiculite, palygoriskite, chlorite, montmorillonite, and finally kaolinite. The elementary oxide analyses show the predominance of SiO2 then CaO , Al2O3 , Fe2O3 , MgO , K2O , and Na2O respectively , while the weathering index value was low.