Occurrence, properties and suitability of sandy beach ridges (BRIS) soils in the Kelantan-Terengganu plains, Peninsular Malaysia

A study was conducted to understand the occurrence, properties and productivity of the sandy beach ridges (BRIS) soils in the Kelantan-Terengganu Plains, Peninsular Malaysia. It consist of Baging, Rusila, Rhu Tapai (profile P1), Rudua (profile P2) and Jambu Series (profile P3). Three of the latter soil series have spodic horizon at different depth, hence classified as Spodosols. The landscapes were marked with Casuarina sumatrana and Zoysia matrala that produce acid humus, mean annual temperature of 32oC, and high rainfall (up to 3500 mm/year) with 3 ridges (at most ±5 m.a.s.l) and swales formed by the eustatic sea effect. The ridges area stated in the order of: 1) the youngest ridge, 2) the intermediate ridge, and 3) the innermost ridge. Entisols (Baging Series) found in ridge 1, while in ridge 2 (profile P1 and P2), spodic horizon samples dates 3000 year-old, and 6000 yearold in ridge 3 (profile P3). Rusila Series is often flooded, thus classification is difficult. Soil samples were collected in two different methods, i)soil samples collected based on depth of 0-15, 15-30, 30-45 and 45-60 cm were used to study the soil suitability for crop production and ii) three Spodosols soils pits (profile P1, P2 and P3) were described based on genetic horizon their organic acids were studied to clarify the formation of spodic horizon. All of the samples were subjected to pyhsico-chemical analyses. BRIS soils are sandy (>95% sand) mainly single grain, high net leaching (>12 cm/hour), pH (4-5), Corg (0.2-2.0%), CEC <5 cmolc/kg, low EC, high bulk density (1.65 g/cm3) and low water content (