Give a geographical reason for each of the following:

(i) You have gone to Rishikesh and notice that the soil is dry, coarse, porous and sandy.

(ii) The soil in your ancestral village at the outskirts of Agra has fine, smooth and moist particles.

(iii) You have gone to Jhansi for an excursion and notice the colour of the soil is a shade of red.

(i) The soil found in Rishikesh is alluvial soil, which is formed by the deposition of materials carried by rivers. Since Rishikesh lies in the upper course of the river Ganga, the alluvial soil here is dry, coarse, porous, and sandy. This is because, in the upper reaches, the river deposits heavier particles like sand and gravel, while finer materials like clay and silt are carried further downstream.

(ii) Agra is located in the Indo-Gangetic plains. The presence of fine, smooth, and moist particles in the soil near Agra suggests that it is Khadar alluvial soil, formed by deposition of fine silt and clay by the Yamuna River, making it highly fertile and moisture-retentive.

(iii) Scattered patches of red soil are found in Jhansi. Red soil gets its red colour from the presence of high iron oxide content. It is commonly found in the plateau regions of India.