Article about Khorat Plateau

[Stargazer]

I'm interested in the soils and hydrology of Isaan, but have had trouble getting much scientific information. Here is a useful Wikipedia post on the Khorat Plateau that might be of general interest. I'd appreciate comments and links to other resources. This article has lots of geology and soils details.

Khorat Plateau

 

[Stargazer]

As noted in the linked article above, red soil is common here. Here is a clear picture of the layering of red with veins of grey. Presumably they were laid down infrequently as sediment. Does anyone know why or what they are? If you dig deep here, you get into a very sticky clay that will cake on your boots and be hard to clean off, a lot like the clay we had in the San Francisco peninsula area. It was prone to swell and shrink as it hydrated and dried out, which was a problem for builders unless you made your foundations deep. I encountered homes where people had gate latches at two levels, one the winter one, one for summer! We also have patches of very sandy yellow soil here.

 

[Wombat]

I read the article, very interesting.