Relationship between types of soil parent rock and Chinese date quality in Xingtang, Hebei

Abstract：The paper discusses the influence of soil parent rocks on the output and quality of Chinese date in the agrogeological context. Investigation shows that Chinese dates with a good quality and a high output in the Xingtang mountainous area, Hebei, are mostly distributed in the biotite-plagioclase gneiss area. It is mainly because, in comparison with other types of mantle rock, biotite-plagioclase gneiss is thick with well-developed cracks and contains higher P, Sr and ∑REE and its contained K is higher and occurs in the slow-effect state in biotite and thus is easily absorbed by plants. Analysis of the soil geochemical background, the area of good-quality Chinese date best coincides with the area rich in P, Sr, Na and ∑REE, while Ni and Cr are lower. It also validates the consistency of the areas of Chinese date with the areas of its soil parent rock—biotite-plagioclase gneiss.