[Climate][Soil & Crops][Geology][Minerals]
The district is a sandy strip of land intercepted by lagoons, rivers and canals. There are neither mountains nor hills in the district except some scattered hillocks lying between Bharanikkavu and Chngannur blocks in the eastern portion of the district. Cherthala, Ambalappuzha, Kuttanad and Karthikappally fully lie in low land region. There is no forest area in this district.
The climate is moist and hot in the coast and slightly cool and dry in the interior of the district. The average monthly temperature is 250 C. The district also gets the benefit of two outstanding monsoons as in the case of other parts of the state.
Hot season - March to May
South-west monsoon (Edavappathi) - June to September
North-east monsoon (Thulavarsham) - October to November
Dry weather - December to February
The district has 8 reporting rain gauge stations at Arookutty, Cherthala, Alappuzha, Ambalapuzha, Harippad, Kayamkulam, mavelikkara and Chengannur as recorded in 1989. The average rainfall in the district is 2763 mm.
| SOIL | TALUK | CROPS[Main] |
| Sandy | western parts of Cherthala,Ambalapuzha,Karthikappally | Coconut |
| Peaty & Kari | Eastern regions of Cherthala& Ambalapuzha,western portions of Kuttanad | Poor fertility & of low yields |
| Alluvial | Rest of Kuttanad,north eastern portions of Karthikappally,western portions of Chengannur ,north western sector of Mavelikkara & the delta region formed by Pamba, Manimala and Achenkovil rivers near its confluence with the Vembanad lake | Paddy, Sugar cane |
| Laterite | Major portion of Chengannur & Mavelikkara | coconut, arecanut,fruit trees etc. |
| Sandy | Cherthala,Ambalapuzha,Karthikappally | Coconut |
The geological formations of the district are classified as :
a belt of crystalline rocks of the archean group
a belt of residual laterite
a narrow belt of warkalli bed od tertiary group
a western most coastal belt of recent deposits
The most relevant crystalline rock type is Charnokites. Residual laterite is the resultant product of the insitu alteration of the crystalline rocks. Warkalli beds consist of a succession of variegated clays and sand stone. The coastal belt consists of recent sediments like aluvium, marine and lacustrine.
MINERALS & MINING
The two most important minerals which occur in large quantities in the district are glass and foundry sand. Lime shell is exploited commercially. High quality sand deposits occur between Alappuzha and Cherthala which form a stretch of 35 Km in length along the western side of Vembanad lake. Large quantities of sand are being mined at Pallipuram for manufacturing sand lime bricks. Vast deposits of lime shell occur in Vembanad lake covering an area of 15 Sq.Km. upto depth of 8 metres between Pathiramanal and Vaikom. China clay and ordinary clay occur in various places are used as building materials. The raw material required for granite carving is obtained from Chengannur.