To find the base saturation, the sum of Ca, Mg, K, and Na cations is calculated and then divided by the total cations including Al and H. The result is multiplied by 100 to get a percentage. The base saturation for this soil is 70.83%, which does not match any of the given answer options.
To determine the base saturation of the soil, we sum the cations that contribute to base saturation which are Ca, Mg, K, and Na. The sum of these cations is 0.5 cmol (Ca) + 0.4 cmol (Mg) + 0.5 cmol (K) + 0.3 cmol (Na) = 1.7 cmol of bases. Total cations include these bases plus Al and H, giving us 0.4 cmol (Al) + 0.3 cmol (H) + 1.7 cmol (bases) = 2.4 cmol of total cations.
To find the base saturation percentage, we divide the sum of bases by the total cations and then multiply by 100: (1.7 cmol / 2.4 cmol) × 100 = 70.83%. Therefore, the base saturation of this soil is 70.83% which is not one of the provided options, suggesting an error in the question or the list of answers.