Victorian Resources Online (archived)
GRES491
Location: Tongio
Australian Soil Classification: Eutrophic, Brown CHROMOSOL
Map Unit: Dargo (Component 1)
Previous Site Name: AL46
General Landscape Description: Rolling low hills
Site description: Upper south-west facing slope (15% slope)
Land Use: Grazing on annual pasture
Native Vegetation: Open forest
Geology: Palaeozoic granite
Soil Profile Morphology:
| Surface soil | |||
| A11 | 0-12 cm | Dark brown (7.5YR3/2) sandy loam; weak crumb structure; hard consistence dry; clear change to: | |
| A12 | 12-36 cm | Dark brown (7.5YR3/2) gritty sandy loam; apedal; hard consistence dry; about 30% of fine quartz gravel up to 3mm; clear change to: | |
| A13 | 36-52 cm | Strong brown (7.5YR5/6) gritty sandy loam; hard consistence dry; about 30% of fine quartz gravel up to 3mm; clear change to: | |
Subsoil | |||
| B2 | 50-7 0cm | Strong brown (7.5YR4/6) becoming yellowish red (5YR5/6) with depth; medium clay; moderate angular blocky structure (10 mm); very hard dry; gradual change to: | |
| C | 70-83 cm+ | Sandy clay; apedal; very hard dry; biotite, plagioclase feldspar, quartz and a small amount of muscovite clearly visible (minerals comprising granite) | |
Chemical and Physical Analysis:
Horizon | Horizon Depth (cm) | pH (water) | EC dS/m | Organic Carbon % | Total Nitrogen % | Exchangeable Acididty meq/100g | Exchangeable Cations | Gravel % | Coarse Sand (0.2-2.0 mm % | Fine Sand (0.02-0.2 mm) % | Silt (0.002-0.02 mm) % | Clay (<0.002 mm) % | |||
Ca | Mg | K | Na | ||||||||||||
meq/100g | |||||||||||||||
A11 | 0-10 | 6.2 | 0.05 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 8.2 | 4.5 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.08 | 11 | 34 | 36 | 15 | 12 |
A12 | 20-30 | 6.5 | <0.05 | 0.76 | 0.31 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.02 | 15 | 38 | 36 | 18 | 7 |
A13 | 36-52 | 6.7 | <0.05 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.07 | 20 | 38 | 31 | 14 | 16 | ||
B2 | 52-60 | 6.3 | <0.05 | 12.1 | 9.3 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 5 | 63 | ||
C | 70-83 | 6.4 | <0.05 | 7.9 | 9.3 | 3.1 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 21 | 28 | 25 | 10 | 34 | ||
Management Considerations
Whole profile
- Plant available water content for this profile is considered to be moderate as the effective rooting depth is likely to extend to 0.5 m into the sandy loam surface soils.
- The low clay content of the surface soils indicates the plants are able to utilise very light rains when the soil is dry.
- The organic matter content of the soil is moderate. Such levels result in an average structural condition and average structural stability.
- The surface soil is slightly acid. However it is not acidic enough to expect a response to lime applications.
- Potassium is at a moderate level for pastures and no response to potassium fertilisers would be anticipated.
- Salinity is not a problem in the surface soil.
- The nutrient holding capacity of the surface (A11 to A13) horizons is low (based on the sum of the exchangeable calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium cations).
- Root and water movement is likely to be restricted in the dense blocky structured subsoil although the strong brown colour of the subsoil indicates the soil is generally well drained. As the surface soils are deep, water availability would be at the higher end of the scale for other soils in the area.
Profile Described By: J.M. Aldrick, 1978.
